Kate Hudson: Missouri school district reinstates SPANKING as punishment… ‘We’ve had people actually thank us’

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A school district in Missouri announced it will reinstate spanking this school year – but with a parental caveat.

Cassville School School District superintendent Merlyn Johnson said he did not take the job a year ago with a plan to reinstate corporal punishment – a disciplinary measure the 1,900-student Barry County district abandoned in 2001.

Merlyn Johnson

“But it is something that has happened on my watch and I’m OK with it,” Johnson said.

‘Majority of people that I’ve run into have been supportive’

Describing Cassville as a “very traditional community in southwest Missouri,” Johnson said parents have long expressed frustration that corporal punishment was not allowed in the district.

“Parents have said ‘why can’t you paddle my student?’ and we’re like ‘We can’t paddle your student, our policy does not support that,'” he said. “There had been conversation with parents and there had been requests from parents for us to look into it.”

Amazon Algorithm Suggests ‘Board of Education’ Paddle to Spank Kids ‘God’s Way’

Johnson said families in Cassville have reacted differently than others on social media from outside the area.

“We’ve had people actually thank us for it,” he said. “Surprisingly, those on social media would probably be appalled to hear us say these things but the majority of people that I’ve run into have been supportive.”

He added: “We respect the decision of every parent, whatever decision they make.”

Is corporal punishment legal?

In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school corporal punishment was constitutional, leaving the decision to permit it up to each state.

Missouri is one of the 19 states, mostly in the South, where corporal punishment is still allowed. Adjacent states that allow it include Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. Others are Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming.

The road to corporal punishment in Cassville started with an anonymous, third-party survey of school employees, parents and students.

All three groups identified student behavior and discipline issues as a high concern.

“We started generating ideas on what we could do and corporal punishment was one of the ideas,” he said.

Johnson said to his surprise, there was more interest than expected in what he called an “old-fashioned disciplinary measure.”

The district investigated that option along with two others, which were also implemented: The creation of a “Success Academy” for students who struggle in a traditional setting and a restriction on cellphones and other internet-ready devices at school.

Spank Me, Daddy…

Corporal punishment policy includes paddle spanking

In June, the Cassville school board approved a policy that allows the use of corporal punishment but only “when all other alternative means of discipline have failed and then only in reasonable form and upon the recommendation of the principal.”