272
CHAPTER 9: Legal Aspects of Education The district court said that school officials possess broad authority to prescribe and enforce standards of conduct in the schools, but this authority is limited by the Fourteenth Amendment. In this case, the student remained in school and thus was not deprived of a public education. “Time out” was declared to be a minimal interference with the student’s property rights. The court noted that the purpose of a time out is to modify the behavior of disruptive students and to preserve the right to an education for other students in the classroom. All of the student’s charges were dismissed.51
Use of Corporal Punishment A particularly controversial method of classroom discipline is corporal punishment, which has a long history in American education dating back to the colonial period. Corporal punishment remains legal in nineteen states. It is unacceptable to many educators, although it enjoys considerable support within some segments of the community and is administered more frequently than educators like to admit. Surveys indicate that hundreds of thousands of children are spanked or paddled each school year, and thousands sustain injuries that require medical attention. But if the punishment results in even a small bruise, the punisher may be investigated for or charged with child abuse.52 Certain state legislatures have prohibited all corporal punishment in public schools. In states where the law is silent on this issue, local boards have wide latitude and may ban physical punishment if they choose. However, where a state statute explicitly permits corporal punishment, local boards may regulate but not prohibit its use. In this context, many school boards have developed detailed policies restricting the use of corporal punishment. Violations of policy can lead to dismissal, and legal charges are possible for excessive force, punishment based on personal malice toward the student, or unreasonable use of punishment. Florida is an example of a state that allows corporal punishment. In 1977, the US Supreme Court, in Ingraham v. Wright, ruled on the constitutionality of this law from two federal perspectives: (1) whether use of corporal punishment was a violation of the Eighth Amendment barring cruel and unusual punishment, and (2) whether prior notice and some form of due process were required before administering punishment. In this case, James Ingraham and Roosevelt Andrews were junior-high students in Dade County, Florida. Because Ingraham had been slow to respond to the teacher’s instructions, he received twenty paddle swats administered in the principal’s office. As a consequence, he needed medical treatment and missed a few days of school. Andrews was also paddled, but less severely. Finding that the intent of the Eighth Amendment was to protect those convicted of crimes, the justices said it did not apply to corporal punishment of schoolchildren. As to due process, the Court said, “We conclude that the Due Process clause does not require notice and a hearing prior to the imposition of corporal punishment in the public schools, as that practice is authorized and limited by common law.”53
Dickens v. Johnson County Board of Education, 661 F. Supp. 155 (E.D. Tenn. 1987). See also Darcie A. Mulay, “Keeping All Students Safe,” Stetson Law Review (March 24, 2014), available at www .stetson.edu/law/lawreview/media/42-1mulay.pdf; and “What Is Responsive Class room Time-Out?” July 28, 2014, posting by Responsive Classroom, available at www .responsiveclassroom.org. 52 Perry A. Zirkel and David W. Van Cleaf, “Is Corporal Punishment Child Abuse?” Principal (January 1996), pp. 60–61; Martha M. McCarthy, “Corporal Punishment in Public Schools,” Educational Horizons (Summer 2005), pp. 235–240; and Arit John, “Kansas Bill Would Legalize Spanking That Leaves Bruises to Deal with ‘Defiant Children’,” The Wire (February 19, 2014). 53 Ingraham v. Wright, 430 US (1977). See also Perry A. Zirkel, “You Bruise, You Lose,” Phi Delta Kappan (January 1990), pp. 410–411; Benjamin Dowling-Sendor, “A Shock to the Conscience,” American School Board Journal (April 2001); Rose Everleth, “Nineteen States Allow Teachers to Spank Children,” Smithsonian (February 19, 2014), available at www.smithsonianmag.com; and Carla Vestal, “The Low-Down on the Beat-Down,” January 13, 2015, posting by Civil Rights Clinic Blog, available at http://cslcivilrights.com. 51
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
