On March 14, Wylie Greer, a 17-year-old student at Greenbrier (Ark.) High School, and two classmates joined the nationwide protest for stricter gun control laws by walking out of school. The protest lasted 17 minutes, one minute for each of the victims in the February 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
According to a story on the Esquire magazine website, the dean of students told them to go inside and when they refused, they were offered two choices of punishment: two days of in-school suspension or two smacks with a paddle. They chose they latter.
Wylie said the punishment was not painful but the idea that "violence should be used to intimidate children and young adults into silence disgusts me. It is barbaric and cruel. … The idea that violence should be used against someone who was protesting violence as a means to discipline them is appalling.”
A tweet by his mother describing the incident went viral, and the actress/activist Patricia Arquette responded: "Your kids probably have a good court case and I hope some 'educators' get fired. Hitting kids 4 defending kids lives?" The Esquire article cites Newsweek and The Daily Beast reporting that corporal punishment is legal in some school districts in Arkansas.
This brings to mind the laws in Singapore, which carry the punishment of caning for offenses such as graffiti vandalism. Such sentences are seen here as cruel and unusual, but are routine in Singapore.
As someone who grew up in a darker age and attended Catholic schools, where corporal punishment was also routine and encouraged, I can attest to the fact that it is painful, humiliating and degrading. It has no place in a civilized society, least of all for children. I echo Wylie’s sentiments in calling it barbaric and cruel, and am outraged that students who cared enough about other human beings should face such a fate.
Wylie said he hopes to someday change the world through his writing, “but I don't plan on sitting down and shutting up now or ever.”