Teacher paddles student for failing science test in Alabama-stan

DEKALB COUNTY, AL —
Corporal punishment in schools has long been a hot button issue, but our WHNT NEWS 19 investigation into this particular form of discipline began after a DeKalb County mom called us for help. Melissa Lewis says her 12-year-old son Payton got a paddling in science class, but she says it's the severity of the paddling that led her to contact our station.

Payton attends Plainview Elementary and is in the seventh grade. Recently, Lewis claims her son came home from school with severe bruises and welts on his behind. Melissa Lewis said her son was upset, "Mom look at my butt and see if there is something wrong with it? He dropped his pants and I said wow what happened? He said I got paddled because I did not pass my science test."

Payton Lewis wasn't the only one. WHNT NEWS 19 learned at least three kids felt the strike of the paddle that day. Payton describes it as a day he will never forget. He said, "It felt like he was trying to touch the ceiling and when he came down... it felt like he was trying to smack me through the wall."

And it was even harder for Melissa Lewis to swallow. She claims she had the same teacher many years before and said, "He was out of control then and he's out of control now." Lewis calls it a disturbing pattern and her frustration is shared by many. WHNT NEWS 19 spoke to several parents, who all say they have dealt with this particular teacher and his methods of discipline.

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Really Alabama? This doesnt really help the image most people have of Alabamastan.

This kids parent has every right to go put a bullet in between the eyes of that "teacher".

I'm surprised the teacher wasnt praying to Jesus while committing battery on the kid.

I have a 7th grade brother. And if this happened to him, you can bet your money i would return the favor to the teacher.

reply to post by BigTimeCheater


Several things...
Most important is that we're not even sure that the incident actually took place. Maybe they have a vendetta against the teacher. This quote bothers me:

Mom look at my butt and see if there is something wrong with it?

Why would he ask his mom to look at his butt to see if something was wrong with it when he knows what happened? Why wouldn't he just tell her what happened? He is 12. My 12 year old son would not ask us to look at his butt. No way, no how.

I don't see the point of your tone here..."Alabamastan"? This could have happened(if true), and probably does everyday, anywhere in the world. Is it because you have a certain bias against southern USA? I don't know. Just asking. What if it happened in NYC or Paris instead?

And then you close with a slam against Christians? What the hell does that have to do with the story? Nowhere in the article does it say anything about anyone's religion.

And finally, even if the teacher really did what was claimed here, the parents do NOT have the right to execute the teacher. Where did you get that idea from? No proof needed? The kid comes home and says something and the parent can pack a gun and head to the school right then and exceute the teacher without any proof whatsoever? Now that's nuts!

I say cooler heads must prevail. Before any action is taken, gets all the facts first.

LOL! If I came home from school and told my Mom I got paddled by a teacher?

YIKES! She's grab the wooden spoon and have a go at me too!

But you'll not hear me complaining. And you will never hear me disrespecting a Teacher or my Mother either.

Some things you just have to learn the hard way.

By the way - BlueRacer - I gave you a star. I wish it were an Applause!

peace

Originally posted by Blueracer


Several things...
Most important is that we're not even sure that the incident actually took place. Maybe they have a vendetta against the teacher.

Does the news station have a vendetta against the teacher too? Surely if it was all made up, they wouldve reported exactly that after being informed by the school district right?

And then you close with a slam against Christians? What the hell does that have to do with the story? Nowhere in the article does it say anything about anyone's religion.

Alabama is the heart of the bible belt, and pretty much anyone and everyone knows intelligence doesnt reign supreme in the bible belt. Study after study shows Alabama continuously ranks near the bottom in terms of average IQ, while at the same time ranking near the top in poll after poll of religiosity.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/78e38d9fecf7.png[/atsimg]

And finally, even if the teacher really did what was claimed here, the parents do NOT have the right to execute the teacher.

Perhaps you are ok with lunatics committing battery on a kid, most people are not.

Hahahaha.... This comes to mind

We lived in Alabama for 10 years.
We would not send our child to the public school system there.
Our child is hispanic .. dark skinned .. and Catholic with a Northern Accent.
They paddle in the schools and there are too many bigots and idiots in positions of power.
Considering the moronic things they'd say ... and that they have power over helpless students ... :shk:

When we left, there was a story about a teacher in the Huntsville area who had her paddle taken away (only for a month) She was using it too much and some of the students were coming home with welts and bruises. She was whining to the paper that she couldn't maintain discipline without the paddle. :shk:

I was soooo happy to move away from there.

Hmmmm... interesting.

I do think the paddling was very wrong.

However, I also think that painting all members of a geographical region or religion with the same brush you apply to a single member is also wrong.

Really, it isn't the least bit different than some of the "All Muslim's / Arabs are terrorists" comments that you see. If one offends you, the other should too.

Is anyone certain this indecent really happened? I attended school in the 50s and 60s, and in those days we got spanked for not passing a test too. Simple whacks, nothing more, and no bruising or anything like that. My parents had a rule: get a spanking at school, get another one when you got home. That being said, if this is true, it is assault on a minor child, and is a Felony in every State. The one doing the spanking is commonly called a "sadist," one who takes pleasure in hurting others.

Originally posted by Frogs
I also think that painting all members of a geographical region or religion with the same brush you apply to a single member is also wrong.

All it takes is one idiot racist or bigot in a teaching position ... hand him or her a paddle ... and watch what happens. Not ALL teachers down there were narrow minded morons .. but a whole lotta' them were. A LOT. Everywhere we went the first thing people said to you was 'and what church do you go to'. If you weren't the 'right' color, and if you didn't go to the 'right' church, and you didn't say 'ya'll' and drag out your vowels (bug would be buuuuuuuuuug), then you were treated like crap by the self rightous. And they were everywhere.

There is no way I'd send my dark skinned, catholic, non-southern-accented, daughter to be taught by those idiots who had paddles in their hands. Those paddles were over used, and considering how the idiots down there treated others who were different .... not a freak'n chance would I send my daughter to their schools.

I grew up with Cuban parents so I have a bit of a different perspective as to what happened here.

In Cuba, if you disrespect your teachers, act like a little hoodlum, or whatever is a spankable offense, you get it from the nearest adult. Period. And when they drag you home to your mom, she gives it to ya too.

And then dad comes home.

All that aside, I think we should probably cut these kinds of teachers some slack. Why? Well, we hand over so many of our parenting duties over to schools, and when our kids become a problem we scream and shout when the little brat is dealt with.

That said, over failing a test? Paddling doesn't help that. Even in my parents Cuban culture of corporal punishment that reasoning is not acceptable. If this actually happened the way it is being reported, it is wrong.


2nd. Why are we harping on Christians? What does this have to do with anything?

Very unfortunate is the fact that the South is EXTREMELY backwards and lacking in education, sense, and intelligence as illustrated by the chart above.

If they do this to students over a SCIENCE test, just imagine the treatment students get if they mess up in Sunday school!! Being that Science honestly is NO WHERE NEAR the importance to them in the deep South as Christianity, just IMAGINE the anger and abuse from a slip-up in Jesus-class or Jesus-courses or tests!!!

Wouldnt surprise me of the abuse that had already occurred down there over the years in the South where the excuse would surely be: "...'cause God told me to mercilessly beat the devil outa 'em" and, "It was fo' their own good and God and Jeeesus told me so...".

They need to get out of the Dark ages down their, and QUICKLY!!!!!!

reply to post by ra.ra3


Yeah because charts tell you exactly what people are like.


Talk about generalizations and painting with broad brushes..

Thread is full of it.

Originally posted by projectvxn
reply to post by ra.ra3

 

Yeah because charts tell you exactly what people are like.


Talk about generalizations and painting with broad brushes..

Thread is full of it.

Well charts and personal experience does help also.

As a consultant in the business realm, my travels are EXTENSIVE and certainly I have much experience in all regions of the country. The South is GREATLY LACKING in intelligence and education, and worst -- the motivation to improve.

They believe in organized superstitions and WORSHIP the party of exploitation and middle-class death called the Republican-party, and are SO brainwashed in a sense to deny everything else including positive change and education. The poverty, living conditions, and lack of a middle class down there is truly frightening.

To provide a perspective of what I WITNESS first-hand down there several times a month on business, there are the so-called "crackheads" who live in the ghettos in the [color=cyan]North East and West coast who IN FACT have a MUCH better quality of life with an ordinary unskilled job than the average hard-working family in the South who work 2 or three jobs!!!!!. And they work VERY HARD down there in the South, and they do it for wages that the North East and West coast folk would only LAUGH at.

What I witness in the Southern states of the country is TRULY scary to me.

Change is a NECESSITY down there. And URGENTLY!!!

Come to think of it, I betcha that child abuse in classrooms in the South is way more common they we believe.

When I was down in another Southern state bordering it last year, there were a few new grads talking about getting hit by their teachers only a few short years ago.

There is certainly not much in the way of regulation and following procedure that regularly down there. Folks turn a blind eye to laws and insult such laws as being "liberal nonsense" all the time. UNREAL!! These laws are to PROTECT children, so I do not see why they have any problems with it. But like I said, change is NOT favored in the South.

Originally posted by Frogs
Hmmmm... interesting.

I do think the paddling was very wrong.

However, I also think that painting all members of a geographical region or religion with the same brush you apply to a single member is also wrong.

Really, it isn't the least bit different than some of the "All Muslim's / Arabs are terrorists" comments that you see. If one offends you, the other should too.

Or calling everyone in Hollywood Liberal Air-Heads.

Originally posted by Annee

Originally posted by Frogs
Hmmmm... interesting.

I do think the paddling was very wrong.

However, I also think that painting all members of a geographical region or religion with the same brush you apply to a single member is also wrong.

Really, it isn't the least bit different than some of the "All Muslim's / Arabs are terrorists" comments that you see. If one offends you, the other should too.

Or calling everyone in Hollywood Liberal Air-Heads.

Yea that is one thing I hear a lot of in the South when I am there quite frequently over the last few years on business. That and "yankees this, and yankees that".

According to the HUGE majority of the "geniuses" in the South, all of the universes problems are TOTALY from "Hollyweird" and the "Yankees". That being said from folks with a 10th grade education max, with 6 kids from different parents, a beer in their hand, a cigg in their mouth, Fox news on the TV, and a Bible in their lap.

That gives them all the credibility in the world to blame the problems of the universe on the West coasters and Yankees.

Though I don't condone assault on anyone, history would prove that " spankings" within the educational centers were not only a form of punishment, but also were a form of discipline. One could easily see, the lack of authority to discipline a child within the confines of a school has been a major role on why the children of today are so lazy, careless, and undisciplined. Make no mistake, I'm not suggesting spankings should be permitted or not, I'm simply identifying that this example, " spankings within classrooms ", were a culprit in true disciplinary actions, as well as behavioral corrective actions.
In this day an age, I think corporal punishment is needed in some form or fashion or another. The children of today are so disrespectful regardless of parental teachings or not! Yes its part of the times, but that is no excuse for blatant disrespect to adults. Ask anyone of that day and age, and they will tell ya that they were less likely to repeat the same offense, as opposed to a simple " time out " as punishment , which can be definitely laughed at!
If a child can be spanked or punished at home, then why not in the area of learning? Schools are for learning right? Why not continue learning right from wrong, or in this case, pass of fail, which could also be defined as " effort or lazy "~

reply to post by ra.ra3


They can't be that ignorant! They started NASCAR and it's a multi-billion dollar business now isnt it? Sounds to me this thread has become nothing more than a judgmental, " and let's label the redneck ", spit fest!

LAME!