AUDIO: SCHOOL TO 5-YEAR-OLD: THAT’S A PADDLIN’
A Georgia elementary school principal insisted on paddling a five-year-old student – and told the boy’s mother that if she tried to intervene the boy would be suspended and she would go to jail. Shana Marie Perez, of Covington, Georgia, posted two videos on Facebook showing the dispute at Jasper Primary School, along with her son’s efforts to resist. He was being paddled for spitting on another student. Almost half the school districts in Georgia allow the practice. (Of spitting on students???) Perez described the dispute with school administrators as longstanding and attributed it to her son’s medical problems, which she refused to cite. She said that her son had missed 18 days this year because he was “having tests for possible cancer”. The school noted that Perez’s son had 18 unexcused absences and as well as more than 20 incidences of “excessive tardiness.” Because of the absences, administrators had Perez arrested for truancy. When last Wednesday’s dispute erupted she was out of jail on bond. In a statement, the Jasper County School District said it “is aware of the video released by Ms. Perez. Unfortunately, the district is barred by state and federal law from commenting about the specifics of this incident. The district respects every student’s right to privacy.”
* But not their right to be free from physical abuse.
* Are they allowed to paddle the kid’s parent?
* Is she on smack?
* Would you say this troubled kid is up the creek without a paddle, or with a paddle?
* The dispute is longstanding, and so is the kid after he gets paddled.
* Maybe Jasper County, Georgia needs to make a date with 2016.
* Give the kid some credit: It’s not easy causing this much trouble at school when you’re barely there.
* It says he missed 18 days this year and I believe that’s more than three weeks.
* I should know how to do the math but I skipped school that day myself.
* PHONE TOPIC: Should schools be allowed to paddle the kids?
(video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=752gpRNPSRw)
CLIP: Audio leading up to the “paddling”. The boy was going to be struck once. In the video, there are two ladies trying to get him to hold still.
