Pop Culture

J. Kevin Tumlinson

I grew up in the shadow of the paddle. If I got out of line, my teachers or my principal would gladly do a posterior alignment for me. In other words, put both hands on the chair rails and pray your three extra pair of underwear were enough.

Today that's not an option. In fact, it's become such a foreign concept that most teenagers become hot tempered at the very notion. "If they tried to give me pops I'd turn around and deck 'em."

Would they?

Not at that time. During those decades of corporal punishment, it was completely normal and acceptable to use a paddle on a child. Everyone was aware that if they got into trouble, they might come under the gun - figuratively speaking, of course. And since it was the norm, no one questioned it. They simply gripped the chair rails and took their medicine.

The question is how did the climate surrounding corporal punishment change so quickly? In less than a decade it became taboo to so much as lay a finger on a disobedient child. "I'll call my lawyer" became a catch phrase and "lawsuit" became a buzzword on campuses across the country. When did high school kids get lawyers?

Has anyone else noticed the alarming rise of school shootings and violence that has pervaded the media over the past ten years? And with it there has been an increase in "the blame game." Suddenly cartoons, video games and rap music are the root of all evil. Are you kidding me? I grew up in the era of "Johnny Quest," "Bugs Bunny" and "The Herculoids" - it's safe to say I've seen every violent act known to man performed in two dimensions before me. I also grew up as part of the "Nintendo Generation," exposed to pixelized blood and gore from a score of games. And yet, not once did I march in to my high school and gun down a bunch of innocents.

People have been exposed to violence for centuries, and I think we can all agree that the number of atrocities committed by the average citizen has typically been kept to a minimum. The occasional sociopath may crop up, but his rampage is usually fueled by some sort of trauma or abuse. No one ever claimed that Jack the Ripper was set off because he'd read too many Shakespearean plays.

No, I firmly believe that the rash of teen violence is due in large part to a lack of consistent and effective discipline, by both the school system and the parents of students. Schools are no longer allowed to do anything that might actually cause a child to change his or her ways, and parents aren't filling in the gaps by maintaining a level of discipline at home. The result is that we have a generation of kids who believe that they should not have to endure any punishment. They should not be held accountable.

In a way they're right. After all, we (and by we, I mean parents, schools and even supremely talented newspaper columnists) are the ones charged with raising these children. Our hands are the ones that are supposed to deliver discipline or rewards. It's time to stop blaming everything else and start taking responsibility for the world we, ourselves, have created.

I'm not saying that corporal punishment in our schools is a perfect solution, it had its faults. It was a system that could be abused easily. But you have to admit, when you knew you were in for a whuppin' you were suddenly a model citizen, right?

So maybe schools shouldn't have the authority to use corporal punishment. Maybe that tool should reside completely in the hands of the parents. Maybe it should simply be a case of the old Biblical adage, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." Or how about this - maybe parents should openly give school officials PERMISSION to use corporal punishment when a child acts up.

You can make all the negative claims you want about the school system that I grew up in, but the fact is that the lawmakers, financial success stories and the movers and shakers of the world all graduated out of that system. That has to say something for it, doesn't it?

J. Kevin Tumlinson is a writer and a schoolteacher living in Lake Jackson, TX. He is wearing several pairs of underwear.