Does Spanking In School Work?

In recent weeks the Ennis Daily News – along with other media sources throughout the metroplex – reported on corporal punishment in Texas schools.
It was reported in the 2006-2007 school year 49,197 Texas public school students were spanked as a form of punishment. The Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union claimed in the state of Texas, children between the ages of 3 and 19 are routinely punished for what they believe to be minor infractions and that in both Texas and the other 49 states, special education and black students are punished at unequal rates as compared with other students.
Growing up I don’t remember clearly what my school’s policy was on spankings. I do not ever recall having a friend telling me about the principal spanking him for misconduct. I do however remember the threat being there.
The first day of sixth grade I can still remember sitting in class with the teacher explaining what the wooden paddle – with colorful markings and holes cut in for maximum effect – sitting on the rail of the blackboard would be used for. I was a pretty well behaved child and therefore never gave her an excuse to use the paddle on me, but I also don’t ever think the paddle moved. It may have simply been a tool used to threaten us into submission. And to tell you the truth, it worked for me.
Whatever your feelings toward corporal punishment in public schools, the rules for when a spanking would be issued should be clear and consistent for all children. Yet, spankings don’t work for every person as a deterrent, especially for high school students. Corporal punishment might be an effective penalty for the average Joe male student, but what about for football players who put their bodies through the equivalent of 30 car crashes a day in practice? A few swats from the principal are most likely going to have the jocks laughing about the chastisement and how useless it is for their kind.
High school females also might not be the best candidates for spankings. This is not because she won’t feel the pain of a paddle smacking her on the behind, but instead because of the inappropriate shame the girl might feel from a male principal spanking her rear end.
I’m not one of those broadminded hippies who think children shouldn’t be punished for their bad behavior, but I am just not sure spankings are the best option for everyone. The football player might need to be suspended for a game (like that would really happen though). Detention is sometimes worse in a child’s mind than any other punishment because they are missing out on time they could be with friends or at work.
The punishment should fit the crime and the intensity of punishment shouldn’t be determined by a child’s skin color or his parent’s income level.
It’s not a perfect world and I don’t have an ideal answer to the problem, but whatever solution is in place for students’ misbehavior, it should show results that deterrence is working.