The Greater Missouri TSA is joining with other organizations to advocate for a change in state law that would prohibit the use of corporal punishment (spanking) on special needs students, including TS students.

This issue was brought to our attention by a Poplar Bluff family whose TS child was threatened with spanking in the sixth grade.

Missouri is one of the few remaining states that does not prohibit corporal punishment in its public schools. Instead, the state leaves the use of corporal punishment to the discretion of local school districts. However, the use of corporal punishment on special-needs students could have particularly damaging psychological effects and severely undermine educational progress for these students.

In addition to our organization, the Joshua Center for Neurological Disorders, Missouri NEA, Belle Center, and St. Louis Arc support this change in state law — and we are currently reaching out to other, similar organizations to ask for their support.

If you are affiliated with a special-needs advocacy organization, please ask them to join us in this effort. For more information, contact Missouri TSA Government Liaison Pete Abel.