Corporal Punishment Still On The Books In Alabama

While corporal punishment is still on the books in Alabama, Homewood City Schools banned it ten years ago.

Since 1998, Homewood teachers and school administrators had to find other ways to discipline children.

“I think it was probably a sign of the times,“ said Shades Cahaba Elementary Principal Sue Grogan.

Grogan has been principal of Shades Cahaba Elementary for the last nine years. She says there’s no place for corporal punishment. At Shades Cahaba, Grogan uses positive ways to correct behavior — with character education, responsibility and respect.

“But children will be children and some children make a choice other than what you would wish,“ Grogan said.

To handle these types of children, procedures are in place that include warnings, notes home, parent conferences and school suspension.

But Grogan is a firm believer that children respond to adults who respect them.

“I believe when you tell a child to stop a behavior we must give them a replacement behavior that’s a better one,“ Grogan said.

Grogan believes students will embrace a better behavior, even if it takes time.  That’s why she says schools and families need to work together to do that. 

Twenty-nine states have banned corporal punishment, and Alabama is not one of them.