When students stepped out of line, how were they punished? Back in the day, spanking was a popular choice for students of all ages. 

To look into past punitive approaches, we are jumping back to March 15, 1963, in the 28th volume of The Beacon, when corporal discipline was a hot topic.

A Spanking Good Thing? — Views Differ on Corporal Discipline

The crackdown on recalcitrant students proposed by Superintendent of Schools Carl Hansen has produced varied reactions among teachers and students at Wilson.

“Emphasis on discipline is a step in the right direction,” stated Thomas Hachten, 205-3. “Since the root of the problem is in the home, parents should be consulted before their child is suspended or expelled.”
Special provisions for further counseling should be made for expelled or suspended students, agreed Lauren Myner, 202-2, and Elizabeth Martin, 304-2.

“Students should not be expelled then ignored,” declared David Bell, 218-2. “The school has the responsibility to give special attention to behavior problems.”
“Proper counseling in the first place would avert many suspensions,” asserted Lynne Seaborg, 218-2.

Evelyn Coleman, 122-4, suggested that a committee of school officials, rather than just a principal, should decide whether a pupil should be suspended.

“After-hours classes are a more effective way of disciplining students than corporal punishment,” stated Mrs. Alexandria Chramiec.

Ted Mesmer, 113-2, disagreed. “Keeping troublemakers in the same room for hours will only aggravate the situation,” he declared. “Just think what will happen when they are released!”

“Teachers should have the right to physically punish a child,” said Mrs. Undine Fitzgerald, “but no teacher worth her salt would ever need to use it.”

“Corporal punishment is a good idea,” commented Ronald Oser, 219-4. “This only risk is that it is easily misused.”

The natural impulse to hit back would be difficult to overcome, according to Leslie Edelson, 225-4. Corporal punishment would become a brawl.

“Physical punishment can be effective in the lower grades,” stated Lorraine Lidoff, 223-3. “However, in high schools, many teachers would be on the defensive.”

Johnathan Friedman, 225-4, thinks that corporal punishment will be effective only if it is strictly controlled.

“The principals should be the only ones to administer corporal punishment,” agreed Woodrow Leung, 202-2, and Alexander Brown, 104-2.

Nowadays, these types of physical punishment for any reason are frowned upon. In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case Ingraham v. Wright decision that school corporal punishment was constitutional. This ruling left the states to decide whether to allow the practice and, as of 2023, corporal punishment is still legal in the public schools in 19 states and practiced in 15 of the states that allow it. 

In all DC public schools, a tiered system was implemented at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year; elevating punishments for repeat offenders.