Individuals from a national organization with the intension of banning corporal punishment in the public schools, were in Robeson County all last week. At least six of them were seen protesting its use in front of Red Springs Middle School last Thursday.

Carrying large white signs,some of them depicting large paddles and one with photographs of children's buttock who had been paddled, the group was being led by Paula Flowe, the organization's director and goes by the name of The Hitting Stops Here, located in San Jose, California.

The group protested in front of Lumberton Senior High and Rowland Middle School earlier in the week, while spending the day at Red Springs Middle. The group, along with other followers, were heading to Lumberton later that afternoon to attend a march from a local shopping center on West Fifth Street and walking to PSRC's Central Office on Caton Road, located west of Lumberton on N.C. 72.

A letter dated March 17, 11 2008, to Superintendent Johnny Hunt, stated the group's purpose of calling attention to possible serious human rights violations against students attending the schools of Robeson County.

"I'm going to present him with a letter, asking him to protect the children under his care and to ban corporal punishment and discuss this matter," said Ms. Flowe.

Paula Flowe, 2008 Ms. Flowe is Founder and Director of The Hitting Stops Here! and a member of the Board of Directors of Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education

According to a statement in The Fayetteville Observer, North Carolina is one of 21 states that allow corporal punishment in its public schools and it is only administered only with the permission of parents or guardians.*

"Robeson County has a large number of kids being abused in school," said Ms. Flowe to a reporter from The Citizen on Thursday. "There's just a lot of abuse in this county that the community is not aware of. So, we all came over and paid

"Robeson County has a large number of kids being abused in school," said Ms. Flowe to a reporter from The Citizen on Thursday. "There's just a lot of abuse in this county that the community is not aware of. So, we all came over and paid our own expenses. We are trying to raise awareness here because we want these children to be safe. These schools are dangerous."

Flowe, a college professor, pointed out that there was a case that involved a Rowland Middle School student in September 2005 that brought her to Robeson County this week. Apparently, a parent claimed that a teacher there used excessive force in paddling her son, causing severe bruising to the student's buttock. The teacher in question, she said, was promoted to an assistant principal position and is now at Red Springs Middle School.

"The vice principal of this school, Anthony Britt, paddled that kid, who was 12 at the time, to the point here there's a possibility the child may never have children. He gave him five serious swats, a very brutal paddling. And the crime was that he was playing with a little boy in some game and the little boy started crying and it was nothing major. A simple matter like that caused Mr. Britt .to abuse the kid to the point where he is still traumatized. We are here at Red Springs Middle School this afternoon because we want these parents to know that their vice principal, as far as I'm concerned, is a dangerous man. People need to know that he's subject to doing that again. We can't have that. One kid is too many kids."

Superintendent Hunt was stated in The Fayetteville Observer on Friday that school officials use corporal punishment as a last resort and was willing to meet with the group and talk about the group's concerns.

Another group from California showing concern about this type of punishment in schools is Parents and teachers Against Violence in Education.

Director Jordan Riak spoke with The Citizen on Friday.

"First, we must deal with root causes," stated Mr. Riak in an e-mail. "Corporal punishment must be unequivocally forbidden. It should be treated no differently than assault and battery by employers against employees, or by husbands and wives against each other. The legal loophole that excludes children from the normal protection against assault and battery must be closed, Then we can move ahead to the next steps, slowly unraveling all the accumulated negative fall-out of violent, punitive child management."

Riak has released a 2008 edition of a small booklet entitled 'Plain Talk About Spanking."

For more information about these two groups, one can go online to either www.nospank.net or www.thehittingstopshere.com.

* CORRECTION: Article 4 of 5, Article ID: 1198230 Published on March 21, 2008, Fayetteville Observer, The (NC) Anti-spanking group rallies By Venita Jenkins, Staff writer The following correction was published April 1, 2008: School officials do not have to have permission from parents to administer corporal punishment. It is left to the discretion of each individual school system whether to receive permission from parents or guardians. A March 21 story on Page 3B contained incorrect information.