This school wants to smack pupils as punishment. What do you think?

A school has sent letters home to parents telling them they would like permission to hit their children with a paddle if they misbehave. 

The school wants to reintroduce corporal punishment for students who break certain rules but they want the consent of the parents.

The Georgia School for Innovation and the Classics in the USA, which has students from kindergarten through to Year 9, explained that if a student misbehaves “the student will be taken into an office behind closed doors. The student will place their hands on their knees or piece of furniture and will be struck on the buttocks with a paddle.”

In Georgia, corporal punishment is legal but so far, only a third of the parents have agreed to the school's request. But despite this the school’s principal, Julie Hawkins, she believes paddling can be “an effective form of punishment”. 

She explained that students would only receive three swats from a paddle, which is 60cm long. If parents do not want their children to be paddled, the school will suspend the child for five days.

But parenting experts have slammed the school's approach. 'Corporal punishment may affect adversely a student's self-image and school achievement and it may contribute to disruptive and violent student behavior,' said Dr Deborah Gilboa. 'Alternative methods of behavioral management have proved more effective than corporal punishment.'

What do you think of the school's approach to punishment?