Message to Friends
2-23-01
Friends,
Bad news: Wyoming's House Bill 217 is dead. Senator Majority Leader April B. Kunz refused to schedule HB 217 for a vote by the full Senate. Had she allowed it to proceed, this bill would have passed by a comfortable margin, just as it did in the House where it passed 36 to 22, and through the Senate Education Committee where it was approved 4 to 1. Wyoming would have become the 28th state to ban school corporal punishment. The bill would have disarmed that small minority of child-beating teachers whose principal accomplishments are bullying their charges and degrading their profession. Senator Kunz apparently belongs to that entrenched coterie of mean-spirited politicians who seem intent on modeling US standards for pupil management after the most backward Third World examples. I hasten to qualify what I just said with an apology to those developing nations that forbid the use of corporal punishment in schools.Thank you, everyone who called, faxed and e-mailed Senator Kunz urging her to do the decent thing for Wyoming's schoolchildren. Obviously she was dancing to different music.
HB 217's author, Representative Ann Robinson, promises she will try again in the next legislative session.
Jordan
2-22-01
URGENT-- This requires immediate action!There is an excellent chance that Wyoming will become the 28th state to protect schoolchildren from being beaten on their buttocks with wooden boards. But only if Rep. Ann Robinson's House Bill 217 to ban paddling is scheduled for a vote by the Senate. The deadline for scheduling is tomorrow. The Senate Education Committee passed HB 217 by a 4-1 vote and it is supported by the Superintendent's Association and the Wyoming Education Association. Now, HB 217's fate is in the hands of Senate Majority Leader April Kunz who has the power to schedule it or let it die. This is what you must do: Call Senator Kunz and urge her to schedule HB 217 for a vote and inform her of your support for the bill. Her phone number is 307-777-7773. If you have a more detailed message, you can FAX her at 307-777-5466. Please do it now. Tomorrow is too late.
Jordan
Message to Friends
2-15-01
Friends,
Following up on yesterday's message re: openletr.htm , I learned today that Justice James Wood of New South Wales Supreme Court has granted Catholic education authorities a stay on condition that Dr. Paul Hogan is paid $500,000 and an appeal is lodged within 21 days. The Catholic Education Office is considering an appeal.Hogan's case reminded me of Steven, a teenager whom I interviewed and whose damaged hand I photographed in Sydney, Australia in 1981. When Steven was 11 and attending a Catholic boys' school, his maths teacher, a Brother (my records don't identify the order), caned him for talking during class. He said his finger turned purple and caused a lot of comment among his peers. He had also been caned the day before on the same hand. About a week later, a lump began to grow on his middle finger, and had remained. You can see the photo of Steven's hand at hand.jpg as it looked three years after the caning. At the time of the interview, Steven had a part-time job in a fruit market. He told me that at the end of the day, the lump was sore and warn raw. Also, since he had begun dating, he said that he was embarrassed about the appearance of his hand. He said surgery was being planned to repair finger. Steven, whose family emigrated from Croatia when he was 5, said he didn't want to pursue the matter because he didn't want to involve his family in unpleasantness and that he had feelings of loyalty toward the teacher who hit him.
On the subject of Catholic education, I received a letter a few days ago from a survivor of education at the hands of the Christian Brothers in Bristol, England. See vanneste.htm
Jordan
2-15-01
Message to Friends
Friends,
Prompted by this morning's good news of the largest-ever award for damages resulting from a routine application of corporal punishment by a teacher to a student, I resurrected my 'Open Letter of Warning to Educators' of 1994 and grafted it to "Man awarded $2.5 million for strapping" -- a headline out of Sydney, February 14, 2001. Readers should bear in mind that Australians are far less litigious than Americans and that lawsuits by private citizens against powerful, respected Australian institutions are extremely rare and almost impossible to win. Nevertheless....Please see "OPEN LETTER OF WARNING TO EDUCATORS/Man awarded $2.5 million for strapping" at openletr.htm
I encourage readers in paddling states, and in states where private schools are exempt from corporal punishment bans, to save and forward this correspondence to state legislators, education department heads, district and local school administrators, and others in positions of authority and influence. They all receive e-mail and their addresses are easily searched. Maybe this will put a bee in their bonnets, and--if you'll pardon the violent metaphor--one that stings.
Jordan
Message to Friends
2-13-01
Friends,
It was one of those sweet moments when I was feeling up-beat about the world. I had just finished reading a letter from LaVaughn Bridges, Principal of Melrose High (Memphis) stating that "...the administration does not condone 'paddling' student athletes if failing grades or poor conduct is reported. The coaching staff did not seek, or consult with, or receive approval from any administration regarding such activity. The administration knows that 'paddling' does not and will not produce academic success," and that "the administration has taken action against the staff involved in this incident; they are no longer a part of the coaching staff of Melrose High School." Principal Bridges, whose full letter is at bridges.htm was responding to events depicted at melrose.htm.Well! Do I see a smile on your lips? Is that progress or what?
Then, Anne came into the office, asked me what I was grinning about, and handed me section 1 of (Contra Costa County, Cal.) The Sunday Times--Valley Edition, February 11.
The lead article was about Wesley Elementary School in Houston. It took up 2/3 of the front page and 1 1/2 pages inside. I'll quote the title, topic headers and photo captions. That should spell it out for you. "Principals' power fuels turnaround," "Schools learning drill," "Strict Houston model draws much attention," "Driven to perform," "...One of the school's special aspects is its regimented bathroom break every morning,." "Military-style learning," "Colyn Blue, foreground, yells out her response with her fellow kindergartners..." "All kids need the basics." One of the illustrations shows fifth-graders, neatly uniformed and with arms folded, queuing in the hall for their one-only morning visit to the bathroom. The waxed floor sparkles. Not a scrap of paper is in sight. You get the feeling that this was not merely for the benefit of the photographer.
Buried deep toward the end of this long booster piece were the following two sentences: "But teachers say some of their colleagues find the school's structure stifling. 'It's too strict, too structured, so they leave,' says fifth-grade teacher Orna McDaniel." And that's all there is about that.
I'd like to locate one or two of those disaffected teachers so I can hear the untold portion of story. If you know any, please ask them to email or call me.
Jordan
2-4-01
Friends,
Amazing how intelligent people seem to be accepting at face value President Bush's plan to privatize charity. Feeding the hungry, giving the homeless a place to sleep and rushing tents, blankets and clean drinking water to quake stricken regions seem reasonable enough if no religious strings are attached. But what about our biggest, least-talked-about issue: the mistreatment of children? Does the president plan to invite the churches to relieve part of child protective services' case load too? If so, which cases? Which churches? See "Critics Question Bush Charity Plan--'I'm sorry, Ma'am, I have to call the police. Your son has been tortured,' " at n-h11.htm
Notice to Friends
2-2-01
Friends,
The day will come when the makers of education policy in the United States will recognize that the time has come to introduce 'child development' and 'parenting' into the course work of schoolchildren. Inevitably, this reform will be powerfully resisted by those who can't tolerate the suggestion that their children may have something to learn in those areas that wasn't covered by Mom and Dad, and they'll raise the specter of big government invading the sanctity of the family. We know what to expect. We've heard that rhetoric before. But rest assured, sooner or later, we'll join our more enlightening European cousins who have been teaching schoolchildren about babies for many years without any loss of family autonomy, but with a whole lot less lunatic behavior of the kind you can read about at n-h10.htmIf you're itching to read some responses to daylight.htm so am I. We're due for a few letters any day now. They can't all remain silent! As soon as I have several answers and have transcribed them, I'll put the project on the Table of Contents and send you the link.
Jordan
Notice to Friends
1-26-01
Friends,
In my mail of a few days ago re: "...how brutal and ruthless my fellow Kenyan teachers are hence my desire to go back...," the URL I gave was valid for only one day, so many readers weren't able to see the story. Since then, I've put "(Kenya) Schoolgirl beaten to death" on NoSpank at nyeri2.htm along with a follow-up article suggesting that the death of the child and the beating she received at school that day were merely coincidental. Some readers have asked me how they can express their condolences to the girl's family. John Nganga sent me these email addresses for that purpose: ken@africaonline.co.ke or %20nation@insightkenya.com I am not sure if the "%" in the second address is part of the address or not. I don't think so. Try it both ways.My friend Robert Fathman, Ph.D., President of the National [U.S.] Coalition to Abolish Corporal Punishment in Schools, tells me that computer problems caused the loss of some of his organization's Address Book. If you were on their list, or want to be on it, write to Bob at rfathman@columbus.rr.com and advise him you want to receive the Coalition's mail. An excellent resource.
On the subject of email, if any readers are getting my messages contrary to their wishes, there's really no need to get all steamed up. Just ask me nicely, and I'll remove your address.
For a preview of a new campaign click on daylight.htm I haven't listed it on the Table of Contents yet. I'll do that after I begin to get responses to the mailing. All the names listed on the page have been sent hard copy of my letter with the photo of the locker room paddling, but it's too early for the mail to have arrived. This will make better sense to you when you look at the page.
Jordan
Forwarded message
1-24-01
Kindly open the following site and see how brutal and ruthless my fellow Kenyan teachers are hence my desire to go back and start an organization similar to PTAVE.http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/News/News15.html [Preceding link no longer contains story of student's death. See nyeri2.htm.]
Nganga John
Notice to Friends
1-19-01
Friends,
Since posting "Melrose High School Boys Get a Lesson in Manhood and Scholarship, Tennessee Style, Year 2001" I have been able to get a much better photo. Please take look at the improved page, then circulate it as widely as possible. Most Americans do not believe school corporal punishment occurs. Some believe it occursso rarely that it's not an issue. And some who work in paddling schools and know exactly what's happening, just stick their fingers in their ears to keep the unpleasantness out and get through the day. (Mandated reporters, where are you? Hello? Anybody there?) As for the combatants in the recent political campaigns, not one had the moral backbone to venture anywhere near the issue of pupil-whacking in the schools. They wimped out on kids. Totally. Now, without delay, open melrose.htm and forward it to everyone in your address book. If we work together on this, we can pull down the shrouds and let some daylight in. There is a little boy somewhere who is going to go to school tomorrow and get an indelible lesson in the uses of terror and pain. One day, that same boy may grow up to become your son-in-law and the daddy of your grandchildren. So better act now.
Jordan