The Governor’s provision for a ban on school corporal punishment passed both houses in the biennial budget. When signed, it will make Ohio the 30th state to ban corporal punishment in all public schools. It includes charter schools. The corporal punishment ban as submitted in the budget by the Governor and passed by the House included a ban on corporal punishment in chartered non-public schools. Legislative sources say that provision did not survive. It would have put Ohio among only three states to ban corporal punishment in private schools. We now await the Governor’s signature. Bless all of you who joined in this effort – fifty organizations signing a proclamation calling for a ban, those of you who wrote letters and made phone calls in support of a ban, the ODE which passed a position against corporal punishment and supported the bill, and especially the Governor and brave legislators like Representatives Brian G. Williams and Jon Peterson (retired), former Senator Dick Schafrath (who spearheaded the l994 limited ban) and others, including those who behind the scenes quietly led the fight to protect Ohio school children.

Please thank the Governor: http://www.governor.ohio.gov/Assistance/ContacttheGovernor/tabid/150/Default.aspx

Please thank: Representative Brian G. Williams (D-Akron) who sponsored HB 26 which kept the pressure on the legislature and could have been pushed forward if the Governor’s proposal failed. District41@ohr.state.oh.us

Please pat yourself on the back! It’s a big win for Ohio’s children.

Nadine Block, Executive Director of the Center for Effective Discipline and consultant to the National Child Protection Training Center
155 W. Main Street #1603, Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 221-8829
info@stophitting.org

http://www.stophitting.org

See a report on physical punishment of children in the U.S. - what research tells us about its effects on children written in lay language. The report and endorsement forms are online at: http://www.phoenixchildrens.com/about/community-outreach-education/effective-discipline.html