Online Activism Aims to Stop School Spankings

Mashable   
April 28th, 2011

Credit: Creative Donkey / Flickr

By Zachary Sniderman

Can social media make a real difference for a cause? It’s a challenge taken on by Marc Ecko and his Unlimited Justice, a campaign to fight corporal punishment in U.S. schools. More than just an isolated campaign, it’s an example of how the Internet is changing modern activism.

Online activism has been both the whipping boy and unexpected hero of social good. The recent revolutions in the Middle East offer a strong case for the powers of social media to amass people into a sum greater than the individual. However, social good has also given birth to ugly terms like “slacktivism” — a portmanteau that picks on the perceived apathy and laziness of social media users.

It may take less physical effort to sign an online petition than stage a protest, but those online efforts are starting to mean more and more to officials. Ecko’s Unlimited Justice campaign helped pressure New Mexico into banning corporal punishment and made in-roads on the practice in Texas.

The Campaign

Unlimited Justice was focused on ending corporal punishment in U.S. schools. The practice of hitting students was permissible as a form of discipline in 20 states. More than 200,000 students received some form of physical punishment in 2006 according to the latest report by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights.

The online campaign was made of two distinct parts: the UJ platform and a Foursquare campaign. The platform lived on the Unlimited Justice website. In many ways it was a social good “game,” whereby users gained points through five steps — learning the facts, signing a pledge to join the movement, recruiting friends to participate through social sites, petitioning government officials, and creating unique art and video. Each step earns the users points, which are calculated and displayed on a leader board.

The site pitches Unlimited Justice as a game where those points are proxies for real influence and impact in the realm of education reform. It’s a nice touch to have the points reflect user credibility rather than act as a way to get merchandise. So many other sites use game mechanics as a way to draw their fans back to a purchase button. With Unlimited Justice, that cache of points is a reflection of a user’s commitment to ending corporal punishment.

This story continues at Mashable.

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One Response to “Online Activism Aims to Stop School Spankings”

• Julie Worley says:

  April 28, 2011 at 12:01 pm

  My husband and I are unable to protect our 3 children, who we do not hit, from overhearing the BLOWS when classmates are hit with wooden paddles just outside class by teachers as a knee jerk reaction to minor infractions without parental consent or notification! Our local school board members IGNORED our written/verbal presentation in April 2008, during “National Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month” to Demand they Prohibit Corporal/Physical Punishment of Children in our schools!

  Federal and State Governments defer governance of school discipline policies to local school districts with absolutely no nationally recognized protocol or safety requirements for training, testing or certification regarding the deliberate infliction of physical pain to punish schoolchildren and no accountability. Federal courts uphold outrageous instances of school child abuse as “discipline” and the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear school corporal punishment appeals simply because states are allowed to maintain laws that violate our children’s constitutional rights in schools.

  School employees Hitting students under the guise of “Discipline” is unacceptable. Corporal/Physical Pain as Punishment or Paddling done by taxpayer funded school employees hitting children with wooden boards to deliberately inflict pain as punishment if done in view of the public would result in the paddle wielder being arrested and imprisoned for criminal felony assault, as would any other person, be they a Police Officer, Lawmaker or U.S. Supreme Court Justice!

  Corporal Punishment is already Illegal in Schools in 31 U.S. States and Prohibited by Federal Law for use against Convicted Felons in U.S. Prisons. Paddling injuries to children put school districts at risk of lawsuits. Several “School Paddling States” have “Teacher Immunity Laws” to protect school employees from criminal/civil action. Some “School Paddling States” such as Tennessee, North and South Carolina do not require parental consent or notification for children to be hit by their teachers/coaches/administrators at school to deliberately inflict pain as punishment for minor infractions such as not turning in homework or horsing around.

  Search ‘A Violent Education’ and ‘School Is Not Suppossed To Hurt’ to see what legally passes as ‘Discipline’ in 21st Century Classrooms in 19 U.S. States.
  Non-violent discipline resources are available at sparethekids dot com and dontbeatblackkids dot com.

  Please add your voice at Unlimited Justice dot com Nationwide Campaign to End School Paddling of Children.

  Reply