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孩子太熊，美國學校恢複“木槌打屁股”體罰政策：家長強烈要求的！
英國那些事兒 2022年08月25日
美國卡斯維爾學校的孩子們，最近估計要氣暈過去了，學校表示，“應家長強烈要求”，要恢複20年前的體罰政策：用棒槌打屁股！
卡斯維爾是密蘇裏州一個不到4000人的小鎮，靠近阿肯色州邊境。2001年，為了順應美國去體罰化的趨勢，巴裏縣學區禁止所有學校體罰，保住了1900個學生的屁股和手心。卡斯維爾的小學、初中和高中都不允許打學生，校長辦公室裏鬼哭狼嚎的聲音少了很多。
在當時看來，這個禁令是進步的，是為學生們著想，但有些家長們表示無法理解……“你們怎麽可以不體罰孩子呢？這怎麽管得住他們？！”
學區負責人默林·約翰遜（Merlyn Johnson）說，卡斯維爾是一個非常保守的社區，自從他上台後，就不停聽到家長們的抱怨。“家長們總問，‘你們為什麽不打我家孩子了？’ 我們說，‘我們不能打，因為政策不允許。’ ”“我們和家長做了很多交談，但還是不停收到家長讓我們體罰的請求。”
家長想體罰的原因很簡單：他們相信用棍棒才能教會孩子規矩，家裏教了，學校不教，效果不會好。和大部分人認知裏的不同，美國雖然在保護兒童上很嚴格，但並不禁止公立學校打學生。自第一所學校在這片陸地上建立起來，體罰就沒有停止。
大多數時候，老師們是把學生按在桌上打屁股，用的懲戒教具都形成了統一，是一種長得很像國內洗衣棒的板子。1977年，有人開始質疑這麽做合不合理。那人就是被打得屁股開花的14歲少年，詹姆斯·英格拉漢姆（James Ingraham）。因為沒有按要求及時離開學校禮堂的舞台，老師把英格拉漢姆逮到校長辦公室，要求校長懲戒他。
校長讓他彎腰趴下，男孩死都不肯，最後被老師們麵朝下按在桌子上，校長用棒槌狠狠打了他20下。那次體罰非常嚴重，英格拉漢姆在家躺了足足11天。他和父母指控學校實施“殘忍和不尋常的懲罰”，上訴到佛羅裏達州法院，最後一路起訴到最高法院。然而，最高法院並不幫他們。判決明確地指出，學校體罰沒有違憲，除非這些懲罰是“有辱人格或特別惡劣的”。不過，學校體罰是否合理，要由各州決定。
最高法院把體罰權下放到各州，由州政府考慮它是否合法。之後幾十年，越來越多州明令禁止學校體罰，但保守的美國南方仍有19個州允許體罰，包括密蘇裏州、肯塔基州、田納西州等。和禁止體罰的州相比，允許體罰的州在總人口的兒童比例上更高，僅2013到2014學年，全美就有10.6萬名兒童在公立學校受到體罰。
這樣的氛圍下，卡斯維爾的家長們想要恢複體罰也就不奇怪了，他們覺得，老師打孩子很正常。
學區負責人默林·約翰遜做了三場匿名調查，詢問老師、家長和學生，對學校最大的擔憂是什麽。
他們都回答是學生糟糕的行為和紀律管理。
“於是，我們開始思考能做什麽。體罰是其中一個手段。” 約翰遜說。很多人（肯定不包括學生）提到“老式紀律管理”，也就是打屁股。他們說這是最有效直接的手段，隻要學校肯實施，校園風氣立刻會變好。於是，今年6月份，卡斯維爾學校董事會批準新政，推翻之前的禁令，允許學校使用體罰。
不過，打孩子也不是亂打，是要有講究的。政策限製了體罰工具，必須是光滑的木質棒槌。它的長度有小臂長，厚度兩三厘米，不能太重，上麵也不能裝別的東西。打學生隻能打屁股，絕對不能打頭和臉。低年級的學生打一兩下，高年級的學生最多打三下。
“體罰學生必須由校長執行，而且現場隻能有一個目擊者。” 政策寫道，“不允許在有其他學生的地方體罰。”“體罰必須是在其他懲罰手段都無效後才做的，體罰不應造成身體傷害。嚴禁打學生的頭或臉。”約翰遜說，他們已經向家長發出文件，隻有得到他們的書麵許可後，才能把孩子列入“可體罰名單”。
如果他們嚐試了體罰後，感覺不太好，每個家庭可以自由地退出。“我們尊重每一個家長的決定，不管是加入還是退出。” 約翰遜告訴媒體。“很多家長都感謝我們的這項政策。也許社交媒體上的人聽說我們有體罰政策，會感到震驚，但我遇到的大部分人都非常支持。”除了體罰孩子外，約翰遜還打算建立“成功學院”，幫助不適應學校環境的學生。他們還施行了一項反對手機和上網設備的政策，讓學生專注學習。總之，這所學校會變得越來越傳統，就像幾十年前那樣。
卡斯維爾學校的體罰政策上新聞後，美國網友們紛紛吐槽，體罰根本就是虐待兒童。“如果他們敢碰我的孩子一根手指，我就起訴他們虐待。”“ ‘有很多家長感謝我們。’ 這種話通常都是正在經曆認知失調的人說出來的，因為他們知道自己站在錯誤的那一邊。”“我媽曾經就收到過那樣的文件，她高高興興地簽下同意書，允許老師體罰我。幸運的是，我的學校最後沒打一個孩子。現在，我不怎麽跟我媽說話了。”
“學校這是告訴學生，問題可以通過打人來解決。嗯，沒錯，未來這個地方的暴力肯定會變少的啦。”得克薩斯大學的人類學教授伊麗莎白·基瑟夫（Elizabeth Gershoff）在2016年研究過美國公立學校的體罰現狀。結果發現，不管是短期內教會學生規矩，還是長期內改變他們的道德行為，體罰都完全沒有效果。它還會起到反作用，被體罰的學生會表現出更多攻擊性，更頻繁地違紀，可能是為了報複老師。被體罰過的學生，會有更多的心理問題，更差的親子關係，更糟糕的學習成績。學生就此進入惡性循環，出格的行為越來越多。
為了保護人的尊嚴和肉體，美國軍事訓練中心、美國監獄、兒童保育中心、少年拘留所都是禁止體罰的，唯一一個允許體罰的機構，竟然是公立學校。這聽上去有些荒唐，但又情有可原。
多年來，未成年學生被當作不完全的人，可以打屁股訓誡，到現在更人性化的社會，這種思維慣性仍然沒有停止。卡斯維爾學校的學生們算是倒黴了。
不知道未來，會不會有人再次上告最高法院，控訴體罰不合理呢？
Missouri school district reinstates spanking as punishment: 'We've had people actually thank us'
Claudette Riley Springfield News-LeaderCassville School School District superintendent Merlyn Johnson said he did not take the job a year ago with a plan to reinstate corporal punishment – a disciplinary measure the 1,900-student Barry County district abandoned in 2001.
"But it is something that has happened on my watch and I'm OK with it," Johnson said.
Cassville is a small town with a population just under 4,000 people about 60 miles southwest of Springfield, near the Arkansas border.
Parents were recently notified of a policy approved in June by the school board to once again allow spanking in school – but only as a last resort and with written permission from parents.
Each family will be asked to opt in or out.
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'Majority of people that I've run into have been supportive'
Describing Cassville as a "very traditional community in southwest Missouri," Johnson said parents have long expressed frustration that corporal punishment was not allowed in the district.
"Parents have said 'why can't you paddle my student?' and we're like 'We can't paddle your student, our policy does not support that,'" he said. "There had been conversation with parents, and there had been requests from parents for us to look into it."
Johnson said families in Cassville have reacted differently from others on social media from outside the area.
"We've had people actually thank us for it," he said. "Surprisingly, those on social media would probably be appalled to hear us say these things, but the majority of people that I've run into have been supportive."
He added: "We respect the decision of every parent, whatever decision they make."
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Is corporal punishment legal?
In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school corporal punishment was constitutional, which left the decision to permit it up to each state.
Missouri is one of the 19 states, most of them in the South, where corporal punishment is still allowed. Adjacent states that allow it are Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Oklahoma. Others are Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming.
The road to corporal punishment in Cassville started with an anonymous third-party survey of school employees, parents and students.
All three groups identified student behavior and discipline issues as a high concern.
"We started generating ideas on what we could do and corporal punishment was one of the ideas," he said.
Johnson said that to his surprise, there was more interest than expected in what he called an "old-fashioned disciplinary measure."
The district investigated that option along with two others, which were also implemented: the creation of a Success Academy for students who struggle in a traditional setting and a restriction on cellphones and other internet-ready devices at school.
Corporal punishment policy includes paddle spanking
In June, the Cassville school board approved a policy that allows the use of corporal punishment but only "when all other alternative means of discipline have failed and then only in reasonable form and upon the recommendation of the principal."
Johnson said it will be administered only by a principal, in the presence of a witness and never inflicted in the presence of other students.
The policy states: "When it becomes necessary to use corporal punishment, it shall be administered so that there can be no chance of bodily injury or harm. Striking a student on the head or face is not permitted."
The only corporal punishment allowed is "swatting the buttocks with a paddle."
Asked how many swings are allowed, Johnson said only one and possibly two for the younger students and up to three for the older students.
The policy also requires the principal who approved the corporal punishment to report the reason and details to the superintendent.
"No one is jumping up and down saying we want to do this because we like to paddle kids. That is not the reason that we would want to do this," Johnson said.
But, he said, students respond in different ways to discipline.
Johnson said the district employs a wide range of disciplinary approaches starting with relationship-building and positive reinforcement for good behavior. Detention and in-school and out-of-school suspensions are also options.
"The positive reinforcement, we love it. That works with a lot of kids," he said. "However, some kids play the game and their behaviors aren't changing."
He said the district hopes the possibility of corporal punishment is a deterrent.
"We understand that it is a bit of a shock factor," he said. "So if there is one kid or a few kids out there that know...there might be a different type of discipline, it might change their behavior."
At the end of the 2022-23 year, Johnson and his administrative team plan to look at what influence corporal punishment, the Success Academy and the cellphone restriction had on reducing student discipline.
"We go back to the drawing board every year and look at what our needs are and reassess and come back with something different, maybe, next year," he said.
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
Claudette Riley is the education reporter for the News-Leader. Email news tips to criley@news-leader.com.
