On September 24, 2005, Associated Press writer Michael Gormley reported a significant rise in formal corporal punishment complaints in New York public schools over the past five years. Specifically, complaints more than doubled over that time period, with 4,223 accusations in 2004 alone. At the same time, there has also been an increase in the number of school districts that failed to file the required semiannual reports detailing corporal punishment allegations.
Of the cases reported to the state Education Department, the majority (54%) were strictly physical abuse cases. 17% of cases involved verbal abuse, and 8% involved both physical and verbal abuse. The remaining 21% of cases were classified as "other."
Many of the allegations involved faculty or staff pushing, slapping and grabbing students' arms. Among those verified were an incident in which a teacher put a misbehaving student outside to cool off in December without a jacket, a teacher who tackled a student who reached for a pencil on the floor, and several cases of students' mouths taped shut.
School districts actions against the offending staff members varied significantly. The teacher who put the student out in freezing, December weather faced a "counseling session... about appropriate expectations with action plan." The teacher who tackled the student received a six-month suspension with pay and had to complete online classroom management courses. The teachers who taped students' mouths shut received counseling memos for their personnel files, and one was fired.
Deputy Education Director James Kadmus states that it was his belief that the cases that constitute child abuse under state law are being reported. "We are trying to emphasize a safe learning environment, and that goes for both the kids' behavior and the adult behavior," he said.
To read the full text of the AP article, click here.
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