U.S. House Education and Labor Subcommittee to Hear Bill on April 15th Banning School Paddling

On April l5th, a subcommittee of the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee will begin hearings on banning school corporal punishment. Please write committee members immediately to ask for support for a bill banning school corporal punishment being introduced by Representative Carolyn McCarthy in the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities. The measure would link corporal punishment bans to federal funding and, if successful, would probably be added to the ESEA (formerly “Leave No Child Behind”) reauthorization measure.

Act Today:

(1) Write Representative Carolyn McCarthy, Subcommittee Chair, Ranking Member Representative Todd “Russell” Platts and committee members. Thank Representative McCarthy for sponsoring the bill, ask all subcommittee members to support a ban on school corporal punishment and tell them why it should be banned. See arguments and contact information below. Ask the Chair and Ranking Member to copy all committee members on your letter or write them individually.

(2) If you live in a state with a Representative on the committee, it is important that you email that person and ask for support for a ban.

Contact Information:

Honorable Carolyn McCarthy
2346 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5516
Fax: (202) 225-5758
Constituent Email: http://forms.house.gov/mccarthy/contact.shtml D-NY 4th District

Honorable Todd Platts
2455 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5836
Fax: (202) 226-1000
Constituent Email: http://www.house.gov/platts/email.shtml R-PA l9th District

Representative George Miller, the House Education and Labor Committee Chair, is a member of the subcommittee hearing the bill. His email accepts messages from all states, not just his constituents:

Honorable George Miller
2205 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
phone:202-225-2095
fax:202-225-560905 Rayburn House Office Building
georgemiller.house.gov/contactus/2007/08/post_1.html

Contact information for committee members:

Please be sure to contact members from your state. If you do not know your district, please go to www.congress.org. Type in your zip code under “get involved.”

U.S. House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities Contact Information (email for constituents). Open hyperlink or copy/paste in your browser.

You can also go to these sites to find regular office mail addresses:

Republicans:

Honorable Russell Platts
http://www.house.gov/platts/email.shtml R-PA l9th District

Honorable Buck McKeon
http://mckeon.house.gov/lets_talk.shtml R-CA 25th District

Honorable Brett Guthrie
http://guthrie.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=117§iontree=4,117 R-KY 02 District

Honorable David P. Roe
https://forms.house.gov/roe/webforms/contact.html R-TN 01 District

Honorable Glen “GT” Thomson
https://forms.house.gov/thompson/contact-form.shtml R-PA 5th District

Democrats

Honorable Carolyn McCarthy, Chairwoman
Constituent Email: http://forms.house.gov/mccarthy/contact.shtml D-NY 4th District

Honorable George Miller
http://georgemiller.house.gov/contactus/2007/08/post_1.html (D CA-07)

Honorable Yvette Clarke
http://clarke.house.gov/contact/contact-us-form.shtml (D NY-11)

Honorable Bobby Scott
http://www.bobbyscott.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=272&Itemid=60 (D VA-03)

Honorable Carol Shea-Porter
http://forms.house.gov/shea-porter/webform/issue_subscribe.htm (D NH -01)

Honorable Paul Tonko
http://tonko.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=3§iontree=3 (D-NY-21)

Honorable Jared Polis
http://polis.house.gv/Contact/ ( D CO-02)

Honorable Judy Chu
http://chu.house.gov/contact/index.shtml (D CA-32)

Facts About and Arguments For Banning School Corporal Punishment:

In 2006-07, over 223,000 students were paddled in US schools, that’s over 1,200 paddlings a day. U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights Study: www.stophitting.com/index.php?page=statesbanning

Sources for the following information can be found at:
www.stophitting.com/index.php?page=atschool-main or under (laws)
www.stophitting.com/index.php?page=laws-main

* Corporal punishment is linked to poorer academic achievement.
* Physical injuries occur. Welts and bruises frequently occur as well as other injuries requiring medical treatment.
* Psychological injury may occur that adversely affects learning and attitudes toward teachers and others in authority.
* Litigation against school boards and educators because of paddling injuries is not uncommon.
* Corporal punishment teaches children that physical violence is an acceptable way to solve problems.
* Better alternatives exist.
* Corporal punishment is disproportionately used on poor children, children with disabilities, minorities and boys.
* States have already determined corporal punishment is harmful.
* In almost all states it is banned in childcare, foster care and institutions for children. It should be banned in schools too.
* More than 50 national organizations oppose the use of school corporal punishment. These include the National Education Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Bar Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychological Association.
* Over twenty African American leaders have signed a proclamation opposing it.

Corporal punishment is illegal in schools in over l00 countries in the world.

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• The numbers on corporal punishment: PDQuotient (cleveland.com)
• Spanking May Make a Child More Aggressive (nlm.nih.gov)