Oklahoma Debates Slapping Children at School

Oklahoma is mulling a bill on whether to ban schools from using corporal punishment on children with certain disabilities.

House Bill 1028 was introduced by Republican State Representative John Talley and Republican Senator Dave Rader last year. However, it failed to pass at the time after some Republicans voted against it.

But it has this year returned with amendments and was passed by the Senate on Tuesday 31 votes to 11, meaning it will return to the House for consideration.

The bill defines corporal punishment as "hitting, slapping, paddling, or any other means of inflicting physical pain on students."

The disabilities listed include autism, deafness, orthopedic impairment and speech or language impairment.

It did not pass without debate. Republican Senator Shane Jett called the bill "communist ideology," according to local reports.

But Senator Mary Boren, a Democrat, said she "never understood why a parent would need the school to spank their child."

"In my Christian parenting classes, the relationship was an integral part in the use of corporal punishment to have a... tender, loving relationship if corporal punishment was ever going to be effective," Boren said. "If you don't have that relationship and that tenderness and 'this hurts me more than it hurts you' kind-of attitude, all you're doing is giving swats, and they're moving on with their day."

Republican Senator Paul Rosino said his grandchild is autistic, and hitting him doesn't help discipline him.

"Taking children, especially children with disabilities, and using corporal punishment as a way to keep them in line is an awful way to discipline them," Rosino said. "I heard something about... 'this is a motivational tool.' It's not a tool. It's hitting."

Nineteen states in the United States allow corporal punishment in schools, including Oklahoma. The state's department of education has a regulation that prohibits teachers from punishing children with disabilities, but Oklahoma does not have a state law in place against the practice.

Last year, Talley spoke with KOKH-TV—a local Fox-affiliated station—about why he introduced the bill.

"I'm passionate about kids. My whole life I've worked with kids," Talley said. "But my wife retired as a special ed teacher, district administrator and a principal of an alternative school. So she's seen a lot of students be misused, mistreated through her work with special needs students.

"I just think a special needs student does not need to deal with that pain, because I think they would be wondering, why is this happening to me?"