Okay, so there's widespread agreement now that corporal punishment doesn't really have a place in schools today. However, at the same time, we know that it is still widely practised, especially in the deep south of the USA, and there are plenty of people there who thinks it's a good thing. So this kind of dilemma is perfectly possible today...
You're the Principal of a high school in Mississippi and your school still employs the paddle for serious misbehaviour. One lunchtime, two girls are seen fighting and a teacher has to part them. Although there appears to be a strong case that both were equally responsible for initiating the fracas, they have experienced rather different outcomes. One has blood pouring from her nose, the start of a black eye, and the very real possibility that her nose might actually be broken. The other is largely unscathed. The first girl has been sent off to the medical room while the second girl has, as a temporary measure, been placed in the In-School Suspension Unit so that her whereabouts are know while you are briefed.
A quick check of records show that the second girl has been in trouble for this kind of thing before and it needs to be dealt with accordingly. Experience tells you that one of the parents, probably the mother, of the first girl is going to be on the 'phone soon demanding answers so it's best to be seen to have acted quickly and decisively.
The decision is made - she's going to get six hard swats with the heavy wooden paddle across her behind and then sent home for the rest of the day - this means you can tell the other mother that the girl has been paddled and suspended. You arrange for someone to bring the girl to your office, and that's when you're faced with the dilemma.
As well as fighting, you now need to address what amounts to quite a serious infraction of the school dress code. I think you have two main options.
- You inform her that, for fighting, she is to receive six swats with the paddle tomorrow morning at the start of the school day, and that she will be receiving further punishment for the dress code violation. That way, she'll have a significant amount of time to think about the paddling that is coming her way and she'll be able to dress properly for the paddling to be carried out. And she'll also have to spend the rest of tomorrow with a very sore bottom sitting in her classes with all of her peers being well aware of what has happened to her.
- You administer the six swats there and then - it might hurt her rather more than if she had dressed properly but that really is her own fault and might serve to avoid the need for a separate punishment for the dress code violation. Plus you could then make her go back to her class for the rest of the day. Since she doesn't seem to care generally about how much her classmates can see of her bottom, it will be interesting to see how easy it will be to see the way it's been marked.
Okay, so your decision?
