CHICAGO, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Teachers and sports coaches at Chicago schools are being reminded the use of paddles to discipline students is forbidden, school officials say.
Chicago school district officials are attempting to clarify a 1993 Illinois state ban on corporal punishment by having coaches and players take part in a program that teaches them about banned disciplinary techniques, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.
An unidentified Marshall High School coach is one of nine Chicago public schools coaches being investigated for allegations they've paddled players to motivate them.
Center for Effective Discipline Executive Director Nadine Block said the new district training program will help end a disciplinary trend that only fosters misconceptions in impressionable young minds.
"It taught them that people who are older can hit you … . It teaches you that violence is a way of solving problems rather than using words, ideas and reasoning," she said of paddling.
The Tribune said a former Marshall coach is also suing the district, alleging he was persecuted by district officials after he reported physical discipline by a school coach in 2007.
