Teenage girl spanked by male vice principal:...

What year is it again? 2012? Are you sure? Americans live in a country where if you spank your child and leave a mark, you risk being accused of child abuse. It's hard to believe that there are nineteen states actually condoning some forms of corporal punishment in their school systems.

A recent paddling incident involving a Springtown High School student has captured the attention of Americans from all over the country. Taylor Santos, a student and athlete near Fort Worth, Texas had the option of spending two days in in-school suspension for allegedly letting another student copy her classwork or choose to get paddled.

ABC reports that Santos went to the vice principal's office to request a paddling because her grades are very important to her. She called her mom, Anna Jorgensen, who apparently stated that as long as her daughter was okay with it, so was she. That's right... Mom and daughter gave the green light.

There is a little bit of a twist to this story though. Both mother and daughter were expecting the "punisher" to be a female as the school policy mandates that males paddle the males and females paddle the females. That is not how it got played out.

Santos was subjected to a spanking session from the vice principal who is a man. The VP issued the punishment while a female witness was in the room watching. According to ABC, Jorgensen states that because of the force that Santos was struck, her bottom was fire engine red and looked as if it had been "burned and blistered." Santos' mother took photos as evidence.

Are you in a little bit of shock? This seems about as ludicrous as abolishing every type of birth control doesn't it? If you live in one of the other 31 states that deems this act illegal, you are probably outraged that this practice takes place.

ABC reports that the Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that it was legal unless it was abolished by local authorities. Efforts to ban it in Texas as well as a handful of other states have failed. It wasn't until 2011, when laws were introduced in Texas giving parents the right to exempt their students from paddling.

According to school policy, parents who don't want their children to be subject to corporal punishment must submit a written statement each year. Jorgensen was among the many parents who condone the practice in her daughter's school with the current same-gender policy in place.

WFAA reports that Springtown ISD Superintendent Mike Kelley is going to ask the school board to abolish the same gender policy, since adhering to it can be difficult on some campuses.

Jorgensen will reportedly be at the school board meeting to encourage them not to abolish the same-gender policy.

"I think Taylor is proof that we need to keep that policy," she said. "I don't believe a man intentionally meant to do that to her, but it still happens, because men are too big and strong to be hitting 96-pound girls."

If we're going to hold on to old-fashioned tactics in the classroom, why not have the kids write something on the chalkboard a hundred time, put them in the corner or dish up some good old-fashioned after-school detention?

Why should a kid be subjected to what some call "physical abuse" when teenagers that break the law aren't physically touched? Is this child abuse?

Jimmy Dunne, president of People Opposed to Paddling Students (POPS) believes that it is abuse. A former math teacher in the Houston Middle Schools, Dunne founded POPS in 1981 and has been on the receiving end as well as delivering the punishment. But he refused to participate after noticing that some teachers were "getting sadistic pleasure out of hitting these kids."

Dunne has met a lot of resistance as he has tried to get schools to abolish the practice. In June, he appeared at an anti-corporal punishment in schools rally in Washington, D.C., and will be attending a school board meeting on Monday after a 13-year-old student at Barbers Hill Middle School in Houston was covered with welts and bruises after a paddling he received for getting three consecutive zero grades.

Members of the Texas legislature say, 'I was paddled, and I turned out OK,'" he said. "Or they say they want to leave it up to the local district to decide. They think it's good discipline. But it's legalized child abuse. I always say if this was done away from the school, the person would be arrested."

Comments: 8

Juan J Martinez Sep 23, 2012, 5:48pm UTC

The real issue is the cheating. Parents instead of teaching children to own up to their mistakes instead teach them to blame everyone else for their shortcomings.

reply to this comment

Walt Tailor Sep 24, 2012, 1:20pm UTC

I was always taught that it is NEVER appropriate for a man to strike a woman for ANY reason. Yet, Assistant Principal, Kirt Shaw (kshaw@springtownisd.net) found it perfectly acceptable to beat a 15 year old girl? There is something seriously twisted about Kirt Shaw, Superintendant Mike Kelley (mkelley@springtownisd.net) and the rest of the Springtown ISD school board of trustees.

Juan J Martinez Sep 25, 2012, 7:40pm UTC

First he did not beat this low-life student. She was given a choice suspension for her cheating or paddling, she chose along with her mother's knowledge chose the paddling. Also the principle was not alone when the paddling took place. Instead of making such a fuss, the mother should be asking her daughter why she felt it necessary and acceptable to cheat.

Walt Tailor Sep 26, 2012, 5:58pm UTC

I would hardly consider a straight-A student to be a "low life." If she was, in fact, guilty of cheating, non-physical discipline is certainly warranted. However, it is never acceptable for a male to strike a female for any reason. In any context other than school, allowing a middle-aged male to strike an adolescent female on the buttocks would be considered sexual assault. If you believe that this is acceptable, you probably also agree that it is perfectly all right for Jerry Sandusky to shower with teenagers.

By the way, did paddling in your youth contribute to your amazing mastery of sentence structure and English grammar?

Juan J Martinez Sep 26, 2012, 7:20pm UTC

Forgive my ignorance, old master of the English language.

reply to this comment

mick bernards Sep 25, 2012, 11:07pm UTC

I was in a school where black girls were paddled except we didn't use a paddle it was too harsh, female teachers did but male teachers used their hands. wait there is another twist the girls got wise and wore extra panties and padding so it was incumbent on the teachers depending on how strict and the level of severity the particualar girl was in whether or not to go the next step. It was often the case that the girls who were smoking or doing drugs preferrred the spanking to the police or parent option. so it was that until recently we would take the girl to a private room and she would straddle laying over your lap and I would actually lift her skirt and pull her panties down and smack the girls on the bare bottom. this was the case for 12 years and some teachers did it regularly and the girls knew that that teacher would not "dob" if they didn't. knowing full well that this was probably illegal we got away with it because of the code of silence. I had girls 15 - 17 ( all mostly black) expose their buttocks and I had to spank them. some joked and said they actually liked it and I would spank harder and longer. I was aware that this practise in our school was perhaps peculiar ( being a religous school) I would say that this probably constitited some level of abuse, although sanctioned by the head. suprisingly the really bad girls were sent to us and we had our repeat offenders. I was considered the 'easy one" in that I found out I was not particuarly heavy handed and thought that the humiliation was punitive enough and this was inpterpreted as " soft" I would firmly and slowly smack a girls bare bottom until it was red probbaly 20 times or more and I felt so bad that these girls did not see this punishment as severe enough to stop their naughty ways. I would talk to them while this was going on and say things like " you are a naughty naughty girl aren't you " . I then would reach over to the balm I had and proceed to rub this healing salve on their bottoms to promote less redness and repair the soft tissue. this was misinterpreted and seen as perverse by some other teachers and that the girls didn't derserve it. to tell you the truth after many years of doing this to young teenage girls nearly every afternoon after school in private I began to think I had become addicted or had some unhealthy enjoyment arise from it. I have to admit I did get a little turned on by it and each time worried that the girls would take issue with feeling my arousel pressing into their stomachs more and take issue with that. So do I condone the padling I would have to say given opportunities to conduct corporal punishment in this fashion that it is open to abuse. I have just admitted such over zealousness and perhaps to some who may judge me . thry and spend every day surrounded by very active, healthy, demonstrative and naughty girls eventually something has to give and I chose to be proactive and take the punishment to a different level other wise you lose control and they have it all over you. My wife says I have had perhaps a bit too much exposure to a level of intimacy that borders on the side of unhealthy levels. I agree it was getting to the point where I strarted to seriously enjoy these sessions far far too much if you know what I mean.

reply to this comment

sofia mogliazzi Sep 26, 2012, 1:16pm UTC

I think the real question of the policy on Texas paddling is where exactly do we draw the line ? Are young students suffering bruises and punishment from faculty members for offenses as meager as being late, chewing gum, or speaking in a sarcastic tone ? As young people we make mistakes and to be slapped across the ass for every roll of the eyes is, in my opinion, absurd. One must also consider the message this sends to young adolescent men that if a woman gets out of line, give her a swat and she'll straighten up. Not to mention if these male superiors get a kick out of spanking little girls…

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2012/09/school-in-texas-now-allows-teachers-to-paddle-children-of-opposite-sex-parents-pass-off-parenting-to-teachers/

reply to this comment

Juan J Martinez Sep 26, 2012, 7:25pm UTC

Once again the student, with her mother’s knowledge, chose corporal punishment over suspension. Why is it no one is bringing up the fact that she was caught cheating? She is no innocent.

reply to this comment

Teenage girl spanked by male vice principal: What's wrong with this picture?

Comments: 8

Join the Conversation