If you can't beat 'em....

Bucking a national trend, a school district in Georgia is actually bringing corporal punishment back. From the Atlanta Journal Constitution via Joanne Jacobs:

Twiggs County principals will be pulling out their dusty paddles when school resumes and using them when students act up.

At least that's the school system's aim.

The Twiggs County school board reinstated its corporal punishment policy this summer to allow students to be spanked to curb misbehavior.

Some board members felt that in many cases, detention for students or a scolding wasn't working.

"We had a policy but we weren't using it," said Ethel Stanley, one of the board's five members. "Sometimes smaller kids will obey better if they have a paddling. The more you give them rope, the more they try.

"It's something to deter them," she said.

My personal belief is that spanking is best left as a fun hobby between consenting adults. I couldn't hit one of my kids, nor do I think I could send them to someone else for their hacks.

That said, if you look at corporal punishment as a tool, and if it's a tool that is effective with some kids, should it be in the tool box?