Spankers face low pay, few jobs, and hurdles to advancement.

LEESBURG, FLORIDA, USA, May 27, 2014 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A new study from child abuse author and children’s rights activist M. Dolon Hickmon suggests that before accepting a position in one of our nation’s rapidly-urbanizing rural counties, career minded educators may want to ask prospective employers about their district’s corporal punishment policies.

“I looked at the data for my own state," Hickmon said, "but other studies have shown that school paddling is associated with similar demographic trends nationwide. So, I would expect similar results in any state or county that uses corporal punishment.”

According to the Center for Effective Discipline, Florida is one of 19 US states that allow students to be paddled. But while spanking is permitted by Florida law, among voters and county school boards support for the practice has seen a decades-long popularity decline.

Hickmon’s analysis found that prohibitions against school paddling are now the norm on Florida’s public school campuses. “Paddling is allowed in around half of Florida counties,” Hickmon said; “but while districts that spank occupy ample space on the map, they tend to be located in sparsely populated areas, with fewer schools and mostly lower paying teaching jobs.”

Hickmon’s survey of district policies revealed that on 85% of Florida's public school campuses, educators who say they can’t manage students without paddling need not apply. "Factor in counties that allow spanking but never actually use it, and the percentage of Florida schools that would not welcome a committed spanker climbs to 90%," Hickmon said. In addition, Hickmon's figures showed that educators who rely on the paddle are likely to earn significantly less: "Districts that paddle supply all of Florida’s worst paying high school principal positions. What's more, 82% of paddling districts pay their high school principals below the $92,000 non-paddling district average. For paddlers, the salary shortfall amounts to $10,000 per year on average, but 58% of paddling high-school principals earn even less. In comparison, half of non-paddling districts paid their high school principals above $92,000 per year. And, because these figures take into account cost of living differences between affluent cities and suburbs, which mostly don’t spank, and small rural counties, which typically do, the gap, in terms of absolute dollars and retirement savings, is even greater."

Hickmon's report raises another concern for education professionals: "Previous national research has shown that school systems that paddled their students performed the worst and improved the least on a key standardized test--something that has career implications in an era when student test scores are linked to incentive pay and teacher performance evaluations."

Finally, as evolving public sentiment converges with evidence in favor of non-physical discipline measures, Hickmon wonders whether participation in school paddling might someday be viewed as a black mark on a job candidate’s application. Kevin Christian, an official with Marion County Public Schools, said: “To my knowledge, questions about paddling have never been asked as part of this district’s hiring process; however, knowing how to paddle students is not a skill that our district is looking for in a school administrator.”

The study's author is writer and activist M. Dolon Hickmon. His past research on school corporal punishment, published on the website of the Center for Effective Discipline, has been cited by ACLU and Human Rights Watch in a presentation to a committee of the US Congress. In addition to having written numerous articles on corporal punishment and physical abuse, Hickmon is the creator of the acclaimed crime thriller 13:24 – A Story of Faith and Obsession. An Amazon Child Abuse Bestseller, 13:24 examines the startling real-world implications of corporal punishment at school and in the home.

The supporting data for Hickmon's study is available here: http://1324book.com/wp/?p=1402

Roger Salles
Rehoboam Press
352-431-3872
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