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Dear ______:
Currently in ________, the only people who can smack someone on the buttocks as part of their paid professional duties are prostitutes, porn stars and educators employed in schools that practice paddling.
Medical science has long recognized, and documented in great detail, how being struck on the buttocks can stimulate sexual feelings. Children of school age are especially susceptible. The tragic consequence for some who are subjected to this kind of abuse is that they form a connection between pain, humiliation and sexual arousal that endures for the rest of their lives.
We can never know how many innocent children have had their sexual development derailed by school paddlings. Any number is too many. If one puts all other considerations aside, this should be reason enough to instruct paddlers in the schools to put away their weapons and begin teaching as they were trained. If they are unable or unwilling to do so, they should be advised to find some other line of employment.
A full discussion of all the other things that are wrong with corporal punishment isn't within the scope of this letter, nor should it be necessary. That information is abundantly available, and any literate person with access to a computer can become an expert on the subject in two or three evenings. Only among the uninformed are arguments favoring corporal punishment taken seriously. Were that not the case, teachers' colleges would teach undergraduates the correct method for hitting children. They don't.
Sincerely,
_________________
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Dear _______________:
The purpose of this letter is to call your immediate attention to a serious human rights
violation against children attending your school.
Your current policy allows students to be physically punished by being struck on the
buttocks with a wooden board. While such treatment may result in the child’s immediate
compliance with the will of the punisher, the long-term effects are only negative. The
child learns to distrust and resent the adult(s) in charge. Because children experience
intense anger at being forced to submit to painful, degrading and humiliating treatment,
they are apt to seek ways to vent those feelings in destructive acts toward others.
Some abused children will strive to emulate their abusers. Others will turn their anger
inward by engaging in self-destructive behaviors, by performing poorly at school tasks
and by loss of self esteem.
Hitting a child’s buttocks is also problematic for these reasons:
In consideration of the above, we request that you respond to the following questions: Sincerely, |
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Dear _______________.
I hate school. Do you know why I hate school? I am going to tell you why. My teacher has a paddle hanging on a string on the wall. She says, "do you see this?" And she points at the paddle and gets a big smile on her face. She looks around the room at everybody. I pray that she doesn't look at me. When I go to bed at night I see her in my mind, and every night I wish that tomorrow was the first day of summer vacation. I hate school.
Sincerely, |
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Dear ______________,
There is a big problem at our school. The problem is the coach. He has a favorite saying when he gets mad at somebody. He says, "run until you drop or until I tell you to stop." He says it like a joke and thinks it's so funny. I wish you people would write a law that makes it impossible for bullies to get jobs as coaches in schools. Sometimes I like to imagine that somebody is making him run until he drops. I bet he wouldn't think it's so funny then.
Sincerely,
_______________
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Dear ______________,
I am writing to you because you are in the government and have the power to fix problems if you want to. Do you know that there are 104 countries where teachers do not hit students? They are not allowed to hit students. There are no paddles and no hitting in those schools. Everybody agrees with the law and obeys the law. I think they have a smart system. Our system is dumb. Why don't you fix it?
Sincerely, |
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Dear_____________:
I am thinking about taking geometry next semester, but I am worried about it. I am not worried about the subject because I like all math subjects, and I get really good grades in them. My academic advisor says, "Follow your strengths." So, she wants me to take geometry and trig. The part that worries me is the math teacher. Everybody says he is always joking and saying rude things about clothing, mainly girls' clothing. And sometimes he paddles, including girls. I really don't want him doing that to me. Not ever. Can you tell me how I can I protect myself from getting paddled by him if I take his class?
Sincerely,
____________________
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Dear ____________,
I have a very serious problem at school. My teacher keeps paddling certain kids. Every day she watches them until they do something wrong and then she paddles them. She always does it to the same kids. I never get paddled. My grades are very good and I never get in any trouble. The teacher likes me, so I don't have anything to worry about. Anyway, I worry all the time. I worry about the kids who are getting paddled and I wish I could protect them. It makes me very sad. Can you do something about that?
Sincerely, |