Posted on 10/28/2005 4:53:52 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
A Unionville mother and father are complaining about the paddling of their 14-year-old son, allegedly by Community High School's assistant principal, and they've taken their concerns to the superintendent of schools, the sheriff's department and have released their boy's medical records showing bruises and swelling at his tailbone. "Diagnosis: Child Abuse," is a notation in the physician's notes. Community High School Principal Robert Ralston declined comment and deferred questions to Bedford County Schools' Central Office where Superintendent Ed Gray said he's in the middle with responsibilities to protect students' as well as employees' rights. To avoid duplication of efforts, Gray said Bedford County Sheriff Clay Parker and/or his detectives would be investigating the allegations.
Samuel Manus suffered a "knot and bruise on [his] lower spine," which showed "swelling due to excessive force ... punishment with a wooden paddle," according to Dr. Corbi D. Milligan, a physician in Smyrna who examined the eighth grader on Monday. The paddling on Wednesday last week, Oct. 19, was a result of an incident on a school bus Oct. 18. The boy didn't tell his parents, Freddy and Tracy Manus of Virgil Crowell Road, until Sunday, Oct. 23, "because he had a run-in with Mr. Williams last year," Freddy Manus said. The father says he was escorted at that time from Community School by a school resource officer and that on the way out, Assistant Principal Keith Williams told him "'I call the shots. You don't.'"
The distinction seems important because of an apparent difference in paddling policies between Community High School and Community Elementary School, as interpreted by Tracy Manus, who points to Student Handbooks. Parents are asked if they'll give permission to paddle elementary schoolers, but the high school student handbook doesn't have such a reference. Regardless, Freddy Manus says his son, Samuel, didn't deserve a paddling that resulted in such injury. He took Samuel to Dr. Milligan on Monday afternoon after he and Samuel visited the superintendent that morning.
"After listening to their explanation of the incident, I advised the parent that he could file a complaint with the school system, file a complaint with the sheriff's office or make a report to the Department of Children's Services. He took a copy of the school system complaint form," Gray said in a prepared statement. "The father returned to my office and related that he had chosen to file with the sheriff's office. I explained to him that the school system would cooperate with the law enforcement investigation."
Ralston said: "Community High School has been made aware of a complaint being issued regarding our staff. It is our policy not to comment on student matters except with their parents or appropriate authorities. Any further questions can to be directed to our central office." Samuel Manus said he was paddled by Williams who used a paddle with a face approximately 4-inches wide and perhaps a foot long. He had to bend over with his hands on a bench for the paddling which was observed by Ralston, the student said. His doctor said she'd not seen such injury from paddling before.
"It hit the lower part of the spine," Milligan said. "Most times when kids are spanked, they're hit on the buttock," she said. "He would not have had bruising had he been hit on the buttock. "The American Academy of Pediatrics' policy on corporal punishment is ... it's not an appropriate form of punishment at any age," the pediatrician said. "I understand there are cultural differences, but there have to be boundaries," she said. "If marks are left, then the punishment is excessive." What led to the paddling is described by the Manus family: Samuel was seated on a county school bus with a friend. They were going to his house after school on the other boy's normal bus ride. Samuel had a foot in the aisle of the bus, an infraction of rules on that bus. Freddy Manus sees merit to the rule but only if a passenger is trying to trip another. Because of the infraction, the bus was stopped and Samuel Manus was told to sit behind the driver. The boy told the Times-Gazette that he told the driver, "'If you don't leave me alone, I'll get my daddy on this.'
"He said, 'Shut up,'" Samuel Manus reported.
Freddy and Tracy Manus concede their son has been paddled before. The three "licks" he got last week brought his total to five, having had two administered during one previous "butt whuppin'," the parents said. Freddy Manus said Thursday he's taken medical records to the Bedford County Sheriff's Department that afternoon, having left them for Detective Chris Brown. The father and detective had spoken earlier. A call to the Sheriff's Department resulted in no contact with Brown or Parker. It was not totally clear whether the department would proceed toward an arrest warrant or whether the information gathered would be presented to the grand jury for the potential issuance of an original indictment. Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that a new state law requires anyone who suspects a child has been abused to report the case directly to the Department of Children's Services, or face a $2,500 fine. The law is expected to have the greatest impact on teachers, day care workers, nurses, and institutions dealing with children. Another state law says teachers and principals may use corporal punishment in a reasonable manner against any pupil for good cause to maintain discipline and order in the public schools.
Another section says teachers can hold students accountable for disorderly conduct on campus and the school bus. However, boards of education shall adopt rules as deemed necessary to implement and control any form of corporal punishment. Gray says there is no system-wide policy. Some schools follow the state law. Others have their own policies. The discrepancy has been approached, but not resolved by the school board.
I think we all finally decided we were on the same page:')
wow...do you have a lot of children?
I always get riled when folks who normally either have no children or were graced with angels wish to admonish those of us who spank as vile brutalizers.
Lack of discipline and no fear of authority is what has made our public schools as sorry as they are....especially in urban areas.
Which is why I pay more than house notes for private school..aggravating
Lovely eh?
they see money....have they called Bart Durham or Luvell Glanton yet?
Why? Did they lie or did they just report the facts. Please be specific. If the kid was hit on the tail-bone, that is NOT a spanking, that is abuse.
I just went to my 40th HS reunion. You are right. The girls were prettier when we were in high school.
I have my 3 grandchildren in a Christian private school. We could be driving new cars but...:') There was a sign up, when it was time to go register them again. "It's not an expense but an investment " Clever, huh?
"No. The appropriate form of punishment would have been WAY more!"
Agreed. The kid had his FOOT in the aisle for God's sake. Kids these days just take it too far. I can't imagine what would have happened to me if I had MY foot in the aisle when I was a kid. A sore butt from Dad's belt every evening for a week, no dinner for a week, and grounded for a month - not even let out of my cage for potty breaks.
You had busses? We had to walk 20 miles in the snow - uphill, both ways.
Do you hit the kids on the tail-bone with a wooden paddle?
Have you ever hit your tail-bone? That is not a spanking.
Agreed. It has also been my experience that those who complain the most about the least amount of appropriate discipline are also the most likely to fly off the handle in a rage and use violence in the name of discipline out of vindictiveness when they feel affronted by a youngster.
Meanwhile, those who use the paddle responsibly are mre than conscientious about when its use is most appropriate. Discipline by same sex teachers and beyond a certain age made more public at a higher degree of authority.
They didn't get married. The silently visited that "Aunt" up north.
I was confused by the location, at first, because we have a Unionville just up the road from us! Took some effort to find the state on the source link.
If you beat your child, be careful, when you are old and feeble could be payback time.
I guess that is only a fair come back. I agree.
Those damn Shelbyville kids deserve a whoopin!
And by whoopin' I mean a paddlin!
not intentionally
when did you stop beating your wife?
(same sort of foolish question)
Bedford County Tenn
about 40 miles South Southeast of Nashville
Home to Tennessee Walking Horses (Shelbyville)
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