Kentucky legislature failed to ban corporal punishment so we're making change without them

“Leave a place better than you found it.” I remember over and over hearing this clichéd, but utilitarian advice as a young child from adults and role models I admired. While fulfilling this precept may be easier said than done, that's exactly what advocates in Kentucky have done through our work to eliminate corporal punishment in schools.

Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege to fight alongside some of the best and brightest leaders in Kentucky, each with a relentless voice for justice. I started working on banning paddling in schools as a seventh grader, horrified by the idea that children my age were being hit in classrooms in my home state. Much has changed in my life since the seventh grade, from high school to present day college experiences. But through it all, my commitment to create safer schools and healthier environments has been unceasing.

I was taken aback when I recently heard someone describe our efforts as “failed.” Although another Kentucky legislative session has come and gone without a total ban on corporal punishment, this assessment couldn’t be further from the truth. Because what started as a powerful legislative effort led by former Rep. Jim Wayne, the late Rep. Bam Carney, Rep. Steve Riley, Rep. Lisa Willner and a multitude of other exemplary proponents evolved into a multifaceted approach to eliminating school sanctioned violence through education and advocacy at all levels of governance.

A week after a peer student from Whitley County and I testified before the House Education Committee in 2019, the Whitley County Board of Education banned the harmful practice. In the same year, Clinton County exponentially decreased their use of corporal punishment after I spoke with their superintendent regarding their previous heightened use of the method.

Background: Kentucky Board of Education passes regulation to limit 'barbaric' corporal punishment

Kentucky Board of Education listened to student testimony

In 2020, after the bill to ban corporal punishment passed the House of Representatives but did not receive a vote in the Senate, I realized through my research that the Kentucky Board of Education by regulation had previously banned corporal punishment temporarily and again could place restrictions on the practice. After fellow advocates and I lobbied Education Commissioner Jason Glass, the Board met several months later and approved a regulation severely restricting the use of corporal punishment and implementing policies that would dissuade districts from using the traumatizing practice, including requiring mental health counseling for recipients of the punishment and banning the use on students with disabilities . While not the final answer, this was a significant step in the right direction.

If policy changes at the local and state levels aren’t proof enough of the progress we’ve made, let the data speak for itself. When I first started working on this issue in 2017, there were 452 incidents of corporal punishment in the 2017-2018 school year . Last school year, there were 17 incidents . That’s a 96% decrease.

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Kentucky school districts are changing disciplinary practices

Furthermore, the number of counties using the practice has decreased dramatically. Last school year, only two districts used corporal punishment . And one of those districts, Bell County, has already banned the practice going forward. The districts that recently banned the practice and displayed the courage to do the right thing by protecting students deserve commendation. Let their courage be a model for the remaining county that used corporal punishment last year, and for any districts that are yet to formally ban paddling.

The palpable results of this long-fought effort to end corporal punishment in Kentucky schools are the product of persistent Kentuckians from many walks of life coming together to protect children. Children in Kentucky are ultimately safer today, and most children no longer fear the threat of paddling in schools. Advocates against corporal punishment in Kentucky truly have “left a place better than we found it”. But our work is not done yet. We have a responsibility to ensure no child can be paddled in the classroom. We must get corporal punishment off the books completely. It may take until students like me are in the state legislature (let’s sure hope it doesn’t take that long), but we will get this done.

Kentucky schools are counting on us. Kentucky students are counting on us. Our Commonwealth is counting on us.

Alex Young is a leader and changemaker working to better his community through advocacy and service. A proud Louisville native, Alex is currently a student at the University of Notre Dame, where he studies political science and government. Alex plans to pursue a career in government affairs and public service where he can continue to have a positive impact on communities around him.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky didn't ban corporal punishment so we changed school policy