5/8/21 Enraged Principal Paddles a Six-Year-Old Student

Corporal punishment is outlawed in 31 states, but in 19 others, including Florida, it's legal.

However, it's banned in the county where Central Elementary School is located. And that's where Melissa Carter, the principal, flew into a rage when a six-year-old scratched a computer screen.

Carter summoned the child's mother to the school, demanding $50 in restitution and saying she would be paddling the girl along with a deputy. That deputy was a school clerk who was required to keep the girl in position.

The mother managed to turn her cell phone on and leave it sitting in her bag to record what happened. "No one would have believed me," she said.

The video shows the furious principal giving three sharp whacks to the first grader's behind while berating her for the her misbehavior. After the first whack, the girl shrieks, stands up, sobs, and promises she'll be good, but the principal makes her turn around for two more.

It may bear noting that the principal is white and blond, but the girl and her mother are both Hispanic. The mother, who is undocumented, said she didn't fully understand what was wrong because of the language barrier. (She did pay the $50.)

The girl has since been transferred to another school in the same district, and the principal is on leave and under investigation. Charges have not yet been filed.

A lawyer for the mother calls the principal's actions aggravated battery. "They're using a weapon that can cause severe physical harm."

Is it possible that the girl was really difficult enough to deserve such a harsh punishment? What could a kid do at that age that would merit a serious consequence?

Do you think corporal punishment should be allowed in elementary schools at all, ever?

Do you think the principal should be charged criminally, based on the video? Or that she should lose her job? Her career?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/principal-melissa-carter-paddle_n_608fe210e4b046202709ac1e?fbclid=IwAR1oso5FYPKjStTIEhWcRssCMSYiTuL8vUT6UHDK2btiw_kKU0i6fbdSM2g