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Arkansas is one of 21 states that allow corporal punishment. Corporal punishment usually takes the form of paddling. The Human Rights Watch Group released a study that says students say "it only makes them want to lash out against teachers or other students. Others become depressed or withdrawn; still others become immune to the constant violence, accepting it as a part of their daily lives." Saline County had 552 cases in 2006-2007 school year. Here is a link to Arkansas' corporal punishment data. Cecilia Eason gave the Bryant School District permission to spank her children. She says, "I don't think everybody needs to be spanked. Every child is different and unique. It should be done because the school system and parents care for the child." Before the principal lays the paddle on the her kids, she wants them to try something else. She suggests methods like timeout or a point system. Bryant Assistant Superintendent Don McGowan says corporal punishment works. McGowan says "I got spanked a couple times myself. I stopped what I was doing." He says kids aren't being sent to the hospital, like reports in the Human Rights Watch group study. "I want to draw distinction between paddling and beating. We never want to beat a child," says McGowan. More than 80 percent of Arkansas spanking cases are among males. The report calls that discrimination. "I don't think we're looking at to paddle just boys, I think we are looking at the individual student that is misbehaving," says McGowan.
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