Clay case awakens school spanking concerns of parents

Citizen-Times ^ | March 27, 2004 | Lynde Hedgpeth

[LadyShallott]

HAYESVILLE - When Tami Smith's 10-year-old son got in trouble at school in February, she told the principal it was OK to spank him.

But when she later found bruises on her son's leg, she decided principal Mickey Noe had gone too far.

[MarcoPolo]

Oh, for the old days again! You know this same thing happened once to one of my dad's brothers back in the fifties. The little rascal was acting up in class, and he got a whipping. The problem was that the old battle axe teacher that he had whipped him all up and down his legs instead of on his butt. When he got home and showed his mama his legs she was upset. She told my grandpa about it when he got home. The next day Papaw went to school and got the principal out of his office and took him to that teacher's room with him. He told that teacher that God made a place for whoopin' kids and it wasn't all up and down their legs. He told her, "I ain't ever hit a woman, but if you ever do that to my son again I will knock you on your ***." Then he turned to the principal and told him, "And then I'm coming for you next."

Needless to say it never happened again.

[Tax-chick]

I think parents should punish children, not schoolteachers or principals. Call the parents out of work (gasp!) and insist that they discipline their children, or keep them out of school. Sudden, miraculous behavior improvement :-).