DC Talks

In the old days, it was not uncommon for a youth or child to be paddled for breaking school rules. I can remember my backsides being warmed up on several occasions over incidents in elementary school for pulling pigtails to mini-brawls on the playgrounds during lunch.  It also brings to mind that corporal punishment for talking back to my history teacher or for a fight I had in high school after a bunch of bullies attacked my younger brother.  The paddle was the tool of choice of a past generation and it ruled in measure keeping order in classrooms, hallways and playground.

   The threat of that teacher swinging that board and the giant sucking sound as air passed through the nine holes and made contact with the body, was a sobering thought.  Even more, was the notion that ridicule was inevitable from friends and classmates who were aware of the occurrence.  That was enough to deter anyone from being embarrassed.

   However, that threat is all but passing into history as a number of school districts are opting out of corporal punishment replacing it with other discipline and control measures.

   One such proposal that has caught my attention in Fort Worth is the idea of considering the use tasers for Police officers who patrol the halls of Fort Worth schools.  In a district that does not use corporal punishment and considers it anathema, it is appalling to think that it would now consider treating its children like cattle.

   Currently 54 police officers are stationed in middle and high schools in the Fort Worth ISD.  This is nothing more than a backdoor approach to establishing a new form of “reverse” corporal punishment in Fort Worth Schools and using Police as the scapegoat.  Taser weapons are designed to temporarily immobilize a person by delivering a 50,000-volt shock.

 A report from Taser International found that about 32 percent of the 5,550 law enforcement agencies currently using tasers gave them to school resource officers.  Image your child lying on a floor writhing and screaming with pain because some policeman passed judgment that singled out your child as a problem or unruly and hit him with the taser.  Think about your child with a hidden heart anomaly that might even die when shocked by that dangerous instrument.  Imagine it being your kindergartner or ADHD middle school child with a behavioral problem or maybe a school fight involving two girls and one is your daughter.

   When Superintendent Melody Johnson came to Fort Worth, she proclaimed her undying love for children and gave the impression that the education of children and improving the district was the priority.  This would open the gates for abuses on Black and Hispanic children.

  According to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, African American school children are disproportionately affected by corporal punishment.  They are hit at twice the rate of other students, and in some large city school districts, they are hit at five times the rate of other children.  The majority of states with the most school corporal punishment also have the highest proportion of their adult population incarcerated.

   In 2003, about one million African American men were incarcerated.  There are psychological roots for support of corporal punishment.  Corporal punishment was widely used on the U.S. Slaves, in turn, hit their own children, so they would be controlled and "invisible" to slavers who might take them.

   If those figures on corporal punishment are worth anything, imagine the implications once the “Pandora’s Box” is open to the idea of using the “stun” gun on students.  Fort Worth is a minority majority district dominated by Hispanic and African American children.  Needless to say that this form of “reverse” corporal punishment would disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic children.

   The U.S. Department of Education statistics show that the use of corporal punishment has declined significantly since the early 1970s, when many states began to outlaw the practice.  Texas remains a state where corporal punishment is legal.  State law, under the penal and education codes, says only that deadly or excessive force shall not be used in schools.

   Tasers are billed as an alternative to deadly force, but critics question whether officers use them too often and whether they can be deadly when used on people under the influence of drugs.  But, who is to say what could happen and do you want to take that kind of risk with your child?

   Under Johnson’s watch, we may be witnessing our schools turn from halls of education to mini-prison camps under that threat that police officers could carry tasers and use “stun” guns and intimidate students into some kind of order and obedience.  It is a bad idea that could start an evil trend across this state.  These are not dogs… These are children… Yours and mine!!!

   According to EPOCH-USA (End Physical Punishment of Children), corporal punishment is not used as a “last resort,” according to many studies examining school discipline.  It is often used as a first punishment for minor and non-violent misbehaviors and usually results to increased escalations, anger and violence that can easily escalate out of control.

   If that is the case with paddling, what do you think the implications are if school leaders endorse a plan to “stun students”?  Officers would use these new “powers” and instantly the paddle is replaced by the stun gun.  The district would endorse their use, but can still say that it does not practice “corporal punishment” while our children are being scarred physically, emotionally and mentally.

   “Tasering” amounts to the public “branding” of a child since it is most likely to occur during a conflict and in front of fellow students.  It also does not address how it might affect a situation if the wrong student is tasered.

   The thought of allowing this practice in a school district is dehumanizing, inhumane and more embarrassing than getting “three licks” in a school hallway.  I took my “licks” in school and the discipline from it and other actions helped me, but to suggest that any child attend a school under the threat of being hit by 50,000-volt taser from an officer is preposterous.

   It is tough enough to build and maintain trust in the education system with youth today.  This could end up being one more issue to tarnish the idea in the minds of youth that schools are for education.  Another thought is with racial profiling in Fort Worth and other cities out of control and being practiced all too often on our streets against African Americans and Hispanics.

   Why would you invite these same fast stop, quick draw “profilers” into the schools with their tasers to use “profiling” our Black and Hispanic youth.

   The thought of tasering youth at any age, especially Black and Hispanics males, is just “SHOCKING” to me!!!   Parents in the Fort Worth ISD should be outraged, think about this one and let Superintendent Johnson know that it will not be tolerated in Fort Worth ISD … and you know what I mean.