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KKxyz3,59957
Many schools in the US South that still use the paddle have both football teams and rules that make it clear that the school’s athletes are expect to opt for the paddle in place of suspension when they have a choice of punishments. The rationale is not usual spelt out but presumably relates to the fact that the school’s athletes have little free time and cannot be spared from training or play if they opt for suspended.
Coaches in US schools often seem to have been responsible for administering corporal punishment either as a part of their job or by inclination. Sports masters and physical education teachers in English tradition schools have shown a similar propensity since the days of Rugby School and Dr Thomas Arnold (1828-42) involving notions of manliness and muscular Christianity.
American high school football (“gridiron”) began in the late 19th century at the same time as college (university) football. It is a strange game that evolved from earlier forms of football. The rules were standardised to allow inter-school matches. There is relatively little kicking and many stoppages. Forward passes and the deliberate obstruction (blocking) of other players are permitted.
High school football teams are an important part of the life of many small towns. They are often provided with impressive training gymnasiums and stadium. Players and coaches have status in their community, especially if successful.
The starting position for players, the three-point stance, is sometimes adopted by those being paddled. The tight bend and near full body inertia likely results in serious deep bruising if the paddle is at all heavy especially if multiple swats are administered.
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Another_Lurker10K289
Hello KK,
An interesting theory!
I’ve read through lots of those high school student handbooks so kindly linked by American Way. I find them quite fascinating as my secondary school got by with no written rules and only one unwritten rule:
If a master or a prefect says it was wrong and you’re in trouble, it was wrong and you are in trouble!
It worked very well, and the lack of a disciplinary matrix allowed for justice, mercy, or the settling of old scores as appropriate when the matter was dealt with. US high school handbooks take many pages to say pretty much the same thing but without the flexibility over consequences.
I don’t recall US high school student handbooks actually saying that footballers, athletes, cheerleaders etc must opt for swats rather than suspension. What they do usually say though is that students in either ISS or OSS (in or out of school suspension) cannot take part in any school extra-curricular activities, which of course precludes both practices and fixtures for members of sports teams. Presumably the same pressure to take swats instead of ISS or OSS, and thus to by-pass the restriction, would also fall on members of the school chess team if it had one but one seldom hears of that.
Although I cannot recall an actual student handbook which overtly dictated that team members etc. must take swats and not suspension I have a vague memory of some rules for cheerleaders. As far as I recall the cheerleading appeared to be organised by a body not directly part of the school.
Those rules did specify that cheerleaders must take swats rather than suspension and also had an elaborate internal cheer team ‘disciplinary matrix’ involving requirements to perform cheer exercises and swats. Darned if I can recall if they were linked here, or where I saw them. Perhaps it was a joke. Perhaps I dreamt it. One does tend to dream of cheerleaders being paddled after reading too many of American Way‘s OCR stats. 
There is of course another reason why students chose swats rather than suspension apart from sporting activities, indeed it is sometimes used as a justification for offering the choice. Apparently suspensions go down on student high school records which may be requested and inspected by colleges, universities etc if a high school student seeks admission to them. Swats carry no such penalty in later life. Choosing swats instead of suspension must be virtually a no-brainer.
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2015holyfamilypenguin4,32069
As referenced before Christina had advice to give to her fellow students at Enterprise High School. She was among the ones paddled in 2015. Maybe she wanted to keep her disciplinary record pristine. She seem to have buyer’s remorse.
https://schoolswats.files.wordpress.com … =387&h=256
Given the lesser disparity rates between ISS and paddling whether girls asked to be exempted than boys. Some girls may not be as keen to present their bottoms to a man than a female in such a vulnerable position so it might be more than just the pain factor.
https://ocrdata.ed.gov/Page?t=s&eid=273 … 8&pid=2342
https://ocrdata.ed.gov/Page?t=s&eid=273 … 8&pid=2343
https://ocrdata.ed.gov/Page?t=s&eid=273 … 8&pid=2555
She’s another bright and attractive college bound student at a fine Alabama college. This is not the more famous Auburn that TWP referenced.
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2015holyfamily3607
From 2009 to 2015 corporal punishment rates buck the downward trend big time. Stricter code? Better enforcement? Poorer behavior? All of the above?
It’s a larger enough sample not to be dismissed as statistically meaningless.
2009.
https://ocrdata.ed.gov/Page?t=s&eid=273 … =5&pid=434
2015.
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KKxyz3,59957
https://www.corpun.com/usscr2.htm
I believe this is by far the best compilation presently available.
The school handbooks in Texas contain by far the most mentions of “athletic” and “athletes” in connection with school CP rules than other states. Or, to be more accurate, Colin Farrell notes far more such mentions in his commentaries on the handbooks for Texan schools. These commentaries can be conveniently found using your browser’s “find on page” search tool. Search for “athlet “.
USA, Texas (public) school districts A-M https://www.corpun.com/usscr2bx.htm
It is very clear that special provisions apply to school athletes in Texas, and probably in other states. In part this is because detentions and suspensions impact on the culprit’s team and the school’s prestige. Further, offences by the school’s sporting elite are likely consider more grievous, and there may be concern about a possible lack of academic effort from those focussed on sport.
High school coaches were likely earlier adopters of the paddle when schools were first opened and / or the paddle was first introduced. Doubtless, they and their charges found it useful and convenient, a situation that prevailed until modern litigious feminized times.
Theories abound but there is little hard evidence. Did basketball players adopt elephantine “shorts” to impede paddles?
As noted previously, both the school and fraternity paddle are known in the Philippines. They very likely came from the USA.
The American invasion of the Philippines in 1898 was opportunistic. The United States was at war with Spain in support of revolution in Spanish colonies. The Philippines hosted an obsolete part the Spanish Navy, so it was attacked. The American attack was far more successful than anticipated. The Spanish surrendered and control of the colony passed to the USA.
The US decided to keep the Philippines in their control amid considerable internal and external controversy. There were several reasons for this decision:
- The Philippines provided a base of operations for American interests in the Pacific and East Asia (commercial, industrial, and military), while denying such a base to a rival power;
- It enhanced American prestige by giving the United States a sizable colony, and increased influence;
- The Filipinos were generally not regarded as fit to govern themselves (the Filipinos, naturally, disagreed), and many in the U.S. and without encouraged it undertake a civilizing mission.
The US rapidly introduced public education in English to the Philippines, and presumably the paddle and fraternity hazing. The first teachers were volunteer US soldiers. They were followed soon after by teachers sent from the USA. Who were these people? What was their background and motivation? Some Filipinos were sent to the USA for tertiary education.
