News of the Day: Rep McCarthy on CNN talking about Strengthening School Safety through Prevention of Bullying

Thank you for including parents voices as needing to be heard . Our family has been working for over a year to raise awareness of a shocking Children's Civil Rights INEQUALITY that currently exists in 21st Century Classrooms, namely, Physical (Corporal) Punishment of Children in SCHOOLS, still legal and practiced in 21 states. It is ILLEGAL in 29 states to hit a child with a wooden paddle in SCHOOLS! Corporal Punishment is the deliberate infliction of physical, psychological (fear) and emotional (humiliation) pain and suffering intended to PUNISH SCHOOLCHILDREN. Over 50 National Health and Education Organizations have issued Official Position Statements Opposing Physical (Corporal) Punishment of Children in SCHOOLS. Hitting children teaches them by powerfully modeling poor behavior that physical assault/violence is the acceptable way to solve problems and creates the opposite of the desired effect of respect, negative outcomes by children, loss of trust, withdrawal, disengagement, anger, retaliation. The federal and state governments must take immediate action to ABOLISH Corporal Punishment of ALL Children in ALL American Schools! George and Julie Worley, Parents of 3 children attending schools in an UNRESPONSIVE Paddling School Dist., Tennessee

Thank you so much for this hearing and to CNN for covering this all-important issue. I am a parent whose child experienced bullying and yet it seemed the school either didn't know what to do or didn't want to know what to do, I am just not sure which. Prevention is key and accurate data collection is imperative for every U.S. school. Educating the educators is a must.

School safety should include the prohibition of corporal punishment in the 21 states that still allow school paddling. School children are being hit with boards in the guise of school discipline. This is legalized child abuse. These beatings leave large black & blue bruises on the buttocks of our children.

21 U S states allow teachers to terrorize their students by beating them.
50 states allow harmful seclusions and restraints, so teachers duct tape, bungy cord, tie up and murder our children through suffocation.

The war on terrorism needs to begin in U S schools.
Let's get rid of the bully teachers and adminstrators who are sadistic, racist, sexist, and mentally unstable. Then teach our children ways of solving EVERY conflict peacefully by example.

Communication is the most preventative tool schools have. But many have yet to harness their best assets, the students themselves, who, when given modern tools to connect with their counselors, administrators and security personnel will break the pervasive 'code of silence'. Ask any student how many text messages he/she sends in a month. This is how they connect with each other and it is time to harness this same technology to allow our students to actively participate in preventing incidents before more catastrophes occur. We must bridge the gap and marry their technological savvy with our life experiences.