Columbus County Schools: Spanking and the drop-out rate

Columbus County school teachers still paddle their students, and they have one of the highest spanking-rates in the state. On the other hand, the system has one of the state’s lowest dropout rates.

Daniel Mitchell says he’s been paddled twice at school. “Kindergarten and seventh grade,” says Mitchell.

Paddling students may sound like something teachers did in the “olden days”, but they did it in Columbus County 87 times last year.

“Probably one is too many but in the scheme of things, with over 19 schools, average or whatever, that’s not many,” says Columbus County Schools Superintendent Dr. Dan Strickland. That puts them at number five out of 26 school systems in the state that still use corporal punishment.

Dr. Strickland says it’s only used as a last resort. “What we do in Columbus County under our policy, is it is done under the administration of a principal or a teacher with a witness. But a parent can opt out of corporal punishment any time with a statement or letter in the child’s file, and many parents do that.”

Contrast that with Columbus county’s dropout rate, the third lowest in the region. “When kids are 16 years old they can drop out of school without parent permission, and I think that’s an eye-opener for a lot of parents,” says Keith Jefferys of Columbus County Schools.
The dropout rate decreased by nearly 30 percent, compared to last year, and 10 percent more kids graduated.

Dr. Strickland doesn’t think paddling directly relates to fewer dropouts. Still, even though parents can opt out, some don’t think spanking is being pro-active at all. “I do not think any teacher has any right to spank any child. It’s left up to the parent,” says Levada Potter. Mitchell agrees, “I believe that it could have been handled by my parents.”

Dr. Strickland says administrators also practice what’s called “Positive Behavior Support”, which rewards students for good behavior.