Education

Bill to End Corporal Punishment in USVI Schools Passes Committee

Senators who make up the Committee on Education and Workforce Development supported a bill that would ban corporal punishment in schools in the Virgin Islands. The practice has been barred in 31 U.S. states. The measure, Bill No 34-0097, "grants immunity from civil and criminal liability to a school employee,  who in the reasonable course of employment uses reasonable physical force against a pupil under the conditions set forth in the statute.” "When two adults hit each other it is called assault, so we can’t send the wrong message that when an adult hits a child it is ok because that transcends into adulthood that it is ok to solve problem physically,” said Senator Janelle Sarauw, the bill's sponsor. "We have to look at creative ways to discipline, give them second chances outside of constantly beating them." The bill defines corporal punishment as “the intentional infliction of physical pain upon the body of a pupil as a disciplinary measure.” The V.I. Dept. of Education "does n...