Texas Town of Temple Revives Paddling at Request of Parents to Punish Unruly Students

Small Texas town, Temple, revives paddling to punish unruly students, at the request of parents.

The small Texas town of Temple is being featured prominently in the news, because it has revived the punishment meted out to unruly students -- paddling. The city, which is a railroad hub of 60,000 people, revived paddling after many parents demanded that the practice be revived. According to the Washington Post, Temple's school board president, Steve Wright, said "without paddling, there were no consequences for kids." Paddling was re-instituted in the city's schools after a unanimous vote board vote in May. Wright claims that behavior at it's single high school has changed dramatically, despite the fact that one student in the school system was already paddled.

It is interesting to note that this form of punishment is legal in 20 states, particularly in the South, which should come as no big surprise. This needs to be federally banned. There are other ways to punish unruly or insolent students. A House subcommittee held a hearing on Thursday to end the practice nationally. The students of Temple's 14 schools now have to fear paddling, in addition to the other forms of punishment, such as detention. The bottom line is that these students need to do the right thing and conduct themselves appropriately and they won't have to worry about being paddled.

Photo credit: Detention Slip