Suppose you knew that a certain disciplinary measure was associated with shame, decreased trust in authority figures, decreased ability to engage in moral reasoning, increased anger and depression, and increased antisocial behaviors such as aggression?
Such a disciplinary measure exists, and it is known euphemistically as corporal punishment, or hitting a child. Mental health professionals have known for years that corporal punishment does not improve behavior and that it is highly associated with many negative psychological outcomes.
Why, then, is it still practiced in environments that are supposed to help children learn and grow?
Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education – PTAVE
PTAVE is a not-for-profit, international group dedicated to banning corporal punishment in schools. They work to achieve their goal by providing education and information about the negative consequences of corporal punishment. Their campaigns target healthcare and mental health professionals, educational professionals, childcare providers, policy makers, and parents.
PTAVE is also known as Project NoSpank. Although their website is full of information, one of their most important tools is an nine-page booklet, which can be downloaded in PDF, called Plain Talk About Spanking. It is written by co-founder of PTAVE Jordan Riak.
History of Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education
In 1974, when Jordan Riak moved with his wife and three sons to New South Wales, Australia, corporal punishment wasn't even on his radar. He had attended school in New Jersey, where the beating of students had been outlawed in the 1800s.
Riak was stunned when he learned that the schools in New South Wales still used caning as a means of discipline, and even more shocked when he found that canings were given for the most minor of offenses, such as misspellings on a homework assignment. Riak's children were afraid, their friends were afraid, and Riak was incensed.
In 1978, he and friend Brian Stephenson co-founded PTAVE with the short term goal of banning canings and other forms of corporal punishment in New South Wales. Their mission ultimately proved successful, when a policy ban against school corporal punishment became law in 1995.
Meanwhile, Riak had moved back to the United States and found himself dealing with yet another jurisdiction where corporal punishment, this time in the form of paddling, was a common occurrence. In 1983, he incorporated PTAVE in California.
The fledgling organization scored a major success in 1987, when California became the 9th state to ban corporal punishment in schools.
Other Organizations Oppose School Paddling
Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education is not alone in its opposition of beating students. Other agencies that support PTAVE include:
- American Association of Retired Persons
- American Psychological Association
- American School Counselor Association
- Association for Childhood Education, International
- CHILDHELP USA
- National Academy of Pediatrics
- National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse
- National Mental Health Association
- Parent Effectiveness Training
- United Methodist Church
Current Status
After nearly thirty years of tireless work in the United States, PTAVE has seen definite progress as 29 states have banned corporal punishment as a way of disciplining students. There are still, however, 21 states that allow educators to paddle and physically hurt children in other ways.
Jordan Riak and PTAVE have also taken on related causes such as spanking in the home, which is outlawed in at least 26 countries including Sweden, Austria and Greece, and mistreatment of youth in so-called boot camps and psychiatric facilities.
Help PTAVE Protect Children
Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education is a 501(c)(3) organization. Donations are tax deductible. PTAVE uses donation to help cover costs of printing and mailing educational materials, purchasing office supplies, and paying other organizational expenses.
Postscript: But I was Spanked, and I'm Okay
Whenever research about the dangers of spanking is cited, at least one person comments that they were spanked and still turned out just fine. That may very well be true – over 90 percent of adults in the United States were spanked at one time or another as children – but it does not make the practice benign.
Think of it this way. The vast majority of people who drive drunk are not killed in car accidents, and the vast majority of children who grow up in homes with lead paint do not suffer brain damage. Still, no one would seriously advocate driving under the influence or using lead paint on the walls of one's home. There are no benefits to any of these practices, and the risks are simply unacceptable.
The same could and should be said of spanking.
Sources:
Family Education, "States with Corporal Punishment in School." Accessed September 18, 2010.
Get Your ANGRIES Out, "What the Research Says About Corporal Punishment." Accessed September 18, 2010.
The International Child and Youth Care Network, "The Effects of Corporal Punishment." Last modified January, 2001.
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