[genericlogic]

Years ago a friend of mine was considering a teaching job in North Carolina. She didn't want to travel alone so I agreed to come to keep her company. We got to the school, met the principal and he took us for a tour. During the tour I vividly remember the principal stating the rules around corporal punishment and at first I just laughed, thinking it was just a very odd joke. I then realized he was very much serious and just played it off as me misunderstand what he was saying. As soon as the tour was done my friend and I both got in the car and decided we needed to get the ** out of there.

I told this story to many people over the years and everyone thinks I'm making it up or just didn't hear right. Having a teacher tell me it's ok to hit kids felt like I stepped through a portal into another world.

[tptacek]

North Carolina has one of the weaker municipal prohibitions on corporal punishment --- Charlotte prohibits most cases of corporal punishment, requires it to take place with another teacher as witness and away from other students, requires parental notification, and, to administer it at all, requires parental consent (albeit opt-out consent). It's not a great system.

On the other hand, in the '20-'21 school year, not one instance of corporal punishment was reported in all of North Carolina. Whatever else it is in NC, it's not common.

Obviously, at this point, with it so infrequent and so circumscribed, they should just ban it statewide.

[ttymck]

What are the requirements for reporting? And what are the repercussions for failing to report?

[tptacek]

I'm sure there's all sorts of unreported violence all over the place, not just in North Carolina, but we're discussing a state that explicitly authorizes corporal punishment, so the idea that they're employing it and then hiding it doesn't add up.