OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA — A bill that sought to end corporal punishment in schools for students with disabilities failed in a close vote in the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The measure was authored by Rep. John Talley, who told FOX 25 earlier this year that he experienced corporal punishment growing up.
“For the most part it means that you bend over and someone uses a board to hit you on the behind,” said Talley, a Republican. “It can really hurt because I had it used on me when I was a kid.”
He didn’t believe that was something a student with special needs should deal with.
“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?” Talley told FOX 25 earlier this year.
Talley found some support from Rep. Anthony Moore, a fellow Republican who debated in favor of the bill […]
Corporal punishment is a direct physical imposition of power. It has been used this way for generations, and is quite effective at instilling outward compliance – at a cost. This is the rub, the authorities in the State of Oklahoma can have any relationship they want with their students; however, the lessons the administrators teach are one thing, the lessons those students actually learn will be their own. The gap between what we think we are teaching and what people actually learn is often wide indeed. Relationships based on force are never healthy.