Teens Face 'Corporal Punishment' in Rural Arkansas for Participating in Student Walkout

[ffr]

WHAT IS THIS? 1918?

Three students in a rural part of Arkansas will allegedly be smacked for participating in Wednesday’s national walkout protesting against gun violence.

Despite that drastic punishment, one student’s mother, Jerusalem J. Greer, applauded her son and the other students at Greenbrier Public School for their defiant protest following the deadly shooting that killed 15 students and two adults at Stoneman Douglas High School last month in Parkland, Florida.

“My kid and two other students walked out of their rural, very conservative, public school for 17 minutes today,” Greer wrote on Twitter. “They were given two punishment options. They chose corporal punishment. This generation is not playing around.”
<snip>

Greer later said that the students face what the school calls “swats.” - The Daily Beast

The punishment would be worth the disobedient message.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Oh this is going to end badly for

School Administrator's.

[dembotoz]

41. i dunno...openings at the cia?

[Wellstone ruled]

52. Suppose so.

Corporal Punishment produces unwanted effects down the road. Wish we could just ignore what happened yesterday,and move on.

Some of us remember what this shit is all about,and we will never allow it to occur with our family members again.

[hlthe2b]

2. Corporal punishment... good gawd.

Barbarism persists.


I was a total goody-two-shoes in high school, but had someone tried to strike me for something, I think I would have hit them back. It would have been reflexive.

[Initech]

3. I hope they sue the shit out of the school!

If this went to SCOTUS they would have to side with the 1st amendment on this one.

[Ms. Toad]

18. It depends.

Schools are free to have attendance policies that identify specific reasons for absence as acceptable - and others not. As long as there are uniformly enforced non-discriminatory, guidelines.

If they would have punished students in the same manner for similar absences from class (walked out in the middle of class, returned in the middle of class), the school will win.

Note: The school cannot prohibit non-disruptive political speech - but walking out in the middle of class is inherently disruptive.

[Zambero]

4. Students chose free speech and face beatings

Hopefully the affected parents will be in touch with attorneys or vice-versa.

[BoneyardDem]

47. I imagine a dozen or so attorneys have already left voice mail messages

[marylandblue]

5. what was the other choice?

Wearing a scarlet "L" for liberal?

[avebury]

51. 2 Days In School Suspension according to the article. nt

[BlueStater]

6. How about they fucking slap you back in return?

How about that, assholes?

[ProfessorGAC]

37. That's My Concern

Some 16 year old saying "I dare you to hit me". Then hitting back. Then a fight and cops and all hell breaks loose!
Ridiculous plan!

[raging moderate]

7. Parents: Pull them out of school.

Last edited Thu Mar 15, 2018, 07:31 PM - Edit history (1)

Tell the school district that you will be home-schooling them. Probably you could do a better job, anyway. I speak from bitter experience, and I wish I had pulled my students out of a similar district when they were children. The experience damaged them both, emotionally. Local bullies with important parents hounded them mercilessly; my daughter became nervous and my son became angry; both were terrified. They did begin to misbehave more. Nothing was done to stop the bullies; my children were blamed for their distress. I found out the district was teaching children that all Indians lived in teepees, and that slavery was not bad, and that only their reactionary politics were valid. Also, one of the teachers was a Holocaust denier, and some science teachers were anti-evolutionary theory.

Incidentally, I did do something about it. After they held a meeting with falsified documents to put my son in Special Education for the next year, I resigned my position and found a new job 200 miles away, and left without giving them my new address. In the new town, I registered my two children in the local school district without mentioning the little Special Education false placement. My children, as usual, got high scores on tests and behaved within normal parameters. The new school district eventually contacted the old school district for grades and were flabbergasted to learn about my son's obviously bogus Special Education placement. They promptly held a meeting to drop that little piece of slander.

Oh, yes, I contracted an illness from which I suffered for a long time, and my career suffered as well. I AM STILL GLAD I GOT MY CHILDREN OUT OF THERE.

[Leghorn21]

8. *This generation is not playing around.*

- thank you Ms. Greer

[Nevernose]

9. Our school gave GASP

A warning of tardiness!

I don’t really see the pointing in beating a child for participating in democracy. They spend plenty of time practicing hiding and running in terror during the school year. Twenty minutes is less time than they spend on school picture day.

[backtoblue]

10. Welcome to my world, folks

This school is pretty close to where I live. Shame on those adults for using violence on students who are begging to be SAFE and ALIVE at school. Those were some brave kids to take a whipping in order to to be heard.

[madamesilverspurs]

11. Televise the "swatting".

Focus on the one doing the swats. Close-up. Put their picture up all over town.


.

[MontanaMama]

30. My thoughts exactly.

Hope these kids have notified the press of their punishment. These administrators are about to get “schooled”.

[flibbitygiblets]

35. Mine as well. Let's get that on the national news and see how it plays out.

Fucking barbarians.

[gopiscrap]

12. I smell a lawsuit in the making

[panader0]

13. When I was in sixth grade in Abilene, Texas (my dad was stationed at Dyess AFB),

I got paddled a few times. The teacher would take me down the hall to the book room
where the paddle hung on the wall, and shut the door. It was not "swats". You had to grab
your ankles and he would hit hard, several times. When you got back to your classroom
the other kids would look at you to see if you cried. Never got a tear from me, but it was
sore to sit down. Mr. Lewis--I still remember your name.

[Blindingly apparent]

14. A sincere question anout this outloorages thing

What do you think is better to flood the school superintendent with phone calls and letters or send letters of encouragement to the students, praising them for their bravery_
Sometimes liberal outrage only succeeds in causing the RWNJs to become more entrenched in their RWNJ Ways

[OriginalGeek]

15. I got licks often at my christian high school

One time because the principle saw me between classes and decided I hadn't had any in a while and must have done something.

They brainwash you into believing you deserve to be hit. IF you were really lucky they didn't tell your parents because if they did, you got it again at home.


Didn't work. I'm still an atheist. Fuck those abusers.

edit to add: none of my licks were for anything as noble as what these kids did.

[RandomAccess]

16. Otherwise known as ASSAULT

This is wrong, and so 1950s. Make that 1850s.

[onethatcares]

17. exactly, Assault with whatever else they can come up with.

No one deserves to be hit, paddled, swatted or whatever term they use to lay a finger on someone.

In a school no less where an adult would be "swatting" an underage person.

Is it possible to file charges from across state lines?

This infuriates me.

[Dave Starsky]

36. The idea of these kids waiting in line outside of class...

So that some sadistic shithead can beat them is crazy and ironic on an unbelievable scale.

I hope the motherfucker delivering all of these swats gets a rotator cuff tear and eventually ends up with a frozen shoulder.

[Ms. Toad]

19. The high school I taught at through the entire 1980s

regularly used corporal punishment.

[Rhiannon12866]

20. And I thought a town north of here (NE NY) was repressive for threatening students with suspension

Local schools here supported the walkout, and even the middle and elementary schools had a program for recognizing the action, this one was the exception.

[Cha]

21. Hi.. what town was that, Rhiannon?

[Rhiannon12866]

22. The Hadley-Luzerne High School

I happened to drive through there just before the 2016 election and I was totally freaked out by all the Trump signs I saw! I didn't see one around here! The local high school here supported the walkout and even planned programs for the younger kids to participate in - and other nearby high schools participated too. I haven't seen any followup on what happened up north, but I felt bad for those kids.

[Cha]

23. OH boy.. I'd hate to live

around there. It's so sad when people get so brainwashed by fox and trump.

Just wanted to know if I recognized the town.. but, not really.

Mahalo

[Rhiannon12866]

25. It's quite rural, not a large population in the off season

It mostly caters to the summer tourists who come there for the lakes. The I don't think year-round residents are very prosperous. And I got lost, but after seeing all the Trump signs, I was too nervous to stop and ask for directions.

And the photo of the students in the article about the governor was taken at the local high school here, just down the road - I went there for three years.



Students of Queensbury High School commence a walkout and assembly Wednesday morning in solidarity with other high schools across the nation marking the one-month anniversary of the school shooting of 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Jenn March, Special to The Post-Star

[Cha]

29. That's so beautiful.. Democracy

in Action!

Good news at the end.. thanks to your further research!

[Rhiannon12866]

32. I was very heartened to learn that the governor stepped up!

Not that it was a huge surprise. He's been in the news quite a lot lately, has been very proactive and all in a good way. He's running for reelection, so he's making headlines!

[Cha]

33. Good on Cuomo..

he certainly did step right up!

Thanks for the info on New York.. hope he wins re-election

[Rhiannon12866]

34. I don't think he has much competition

He has had his detractors, but it looks to me like he's working to live up to the legacy of his legendary Dad!

[Rhiannon12866]

24. Wow! I was just looking for any followup - and I found this proclamation from Governor Cuomo!

Cuomo: Probe any NY schools that blocked student walkout

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo asked state education officials Thursday to investigate reports that some New York schools prevented students from taking part in Wednesday's nationwide student walkout to protest gun violence.

In a letter the Democrat sent to Education Department Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, Cuomo called on her to look into any reports of schools blocking exits so students couldn't leave.

Cuomo called such actions "an egregious safety violation" and unlawful. His letter mentioned reports of schools in New York state disciplining students and faculty for participating in the event, and Cuomo asked Elia to use her authority "to stop these schools, reverse course and cease any disciplinary actions."


http://poststar.com/news/state-and-regional/cuomo-probe-any-ny-schools-that-blocked-student-walkout/article_b983c0e5-d0dd-5458-817f-a033df06fbbf.html

[Cha]

26. YAY! Gov Cuomo! That is what you get

from a Democratic Gov!

Mahalo, Rhiannon!

[Rhiannon12866]

28. I'm hoping that no students up there were punished - if they decided to participate

But it's very heartening to know that the governor - for any students at any school in the state - is on their side!

[Cha]

31. Yes, it is so heartening.. and you

really can't have much of a heart to deny students their right to support the MDSH KIDS.

[Tatiana]

27. How is this legal in a public school?

These families need to contact the ACLU.

[moriah]

43. Sadly, it's legal in Arkansas, and in the school handbook.

What I find more interesting is that it's essentially chosen by kids who have iron asses to avoid more tedious punishments that would probably be more effective. There's definitely a limit on how bad the school can hit a kid, and apparently that limit is less painful for many kids than suspension -- or they'd choose the in-school suspension option.

Spanking just isn't an effective deterrent. And there's no question that offering the spanking option in this case created a huge optics issue for the district. Kids beaten for protesting -- headline material for sure.

Perhaps they'll re-think the policy. Sadly, knowing the area, logic isn't going to make them give up the idea that hitting kids teaches them anything other than how to withstand physical pain.

[Tatiana]

49. I'm stunned.

I just found out this is also a thing in Oklahoma.

What we're teaching kids is that it's OK to hit other people when we don't like their actions.

This is completely appalling and not an effective consequence at all.

[beachbum bob]

38. too bad this school district doesn't allow kids to carry guns...as being attack by a school admin

physically, we could do a stand your ground shooting....assault is assault

[Orange Free State]

39. This has nothing to do with the protest

And everything to do with control of the protesters. It’s growing and the RWNJs know it. Anything they do will only make it bigger. Good luck keeping these kids down. Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command. And some will be voting very very soon.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

40. What kind of parent allows someone to hit their kids?

Raise you hand to one of my kids Bucky and it will be a long time before you can raise it again. That being said, these kids are showing a lot of courage. That's the kind of fortitude that makes change. Always stand up for what is right.

[Major Nikon]

46. Not much of a choice really

The alternatives are home school or private. There's still lots of places in the South where the beating of children is completely legal and there's no way to opt out in the public school system.

[dembotoz]

42. some protests come at a cost....i salute these students who did it anyway

school obviously wrong

but these kids did it anyway

they have balls

i salute you

[Tommy_Carcetti]

44. Well, according to some random old fart....

....the world all went downhill when schools stopped paddling their kids. Or was it taking the 10 Commandments away?

I have no idea.

[Major Nikon]

45. Kids: The only living thing that's legal to beat

Thanks, Jesus!

[BoneyardDem]

48. ...and if a parenty publicly announced they would be hitting their kid for speaking....?

those children would be removed from parents custody, but schools can beat children with impunity? Something is wrong

[avebury]

50. I don't care what the school policy is, if they threatened to hit

a child of mine because he/she exercised his/her 1st Amendment right to protest in a non-violent way I would be calling the police and insisting that the person who laid a hand upon my child be arrested for assault. I would think that the ACLU would be a good resource for taking on the school district. Threat of physical violence should not be an acceptable way of intimidating people from exercising their Constitutional rights.

It would be interesting to know if students would have been able to go to court ahead of time and get a Victim's Protective Order against the school staff prior to the walk out.

[LanternWaste]

53. Violence to teach children not to protest violence.

Violence to teach children not to protest violence. Seems something only an idiot could love.