Court Opinion

ID: 9589268
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:43:09.452426+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:35:06.083188
License: Public Domain

McHUGH, Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur with the majority in this action in regard to the recognition by the majority that the common law doctrine of in loco parentis, as that doctrine relates to public schools, is embodied in W.Va.Code, 18A-5-1 [1969]. I, therefore, agree that although the right of school authorities to punish public school children is not absolute, limited corporal punishment of public school children is permissible.
My disagreement with the majority concerns its use of the child abuse standards and legislative enactments as the basis for its decision in this action. Certainly, child abuse must not be condoned in the home or in the public schools under any circumstances. However, I believe that it is not sound logic to indicate that the doctrine of in loco parentis and W. Va. Code, 18A-5-1 [1969], must be interpreted in light of the child abuse standards and legislative enactments to preclude paddling. The wisdom of paddling, as a disciplinary measure, in the public schools is an issue of great importance, but it is not necessarily a judicial issue. Whether or not paddling is a legally permissible method of discipline is a judicial issue. The majority concludes that paddling is not legally permissible. I am concerned with the reasoning by which the majority reaches that conclusion.
I do not deny that this Court has the power to modify the common law of this State. However, the West Virginia Legislature has entered the area of discipline in the public schools by the enactment of W.Va.Code, 18A-5-1 [1969], which statute *602expressly states, in part, as follows: “The teacher shall stand in the place of the parent or guardian in exercising authority over the school, and shall have control of all pupils enrolled in the school from the time they reach the school until they have returned to their respective homes.... ” Therefore, the doctrine of in loco parentis as it relates to the action before this Court is a matter of statutory law.
W. Va. Code, 18A-5-1 [1969], does not prohibit the paddling of public school children. Rather, in terms of discipline in the public schools, that statute places the school authorities “in the place of the parent or guardian.” Thus, because parents are also subject to the child abuse standards and legislative enactments, the majority’s conclusion that school authorities may not paddle public school children necessarily implies that parents as well may not paddle their children. The constitutional issues not being decided by the Court in this action, I am of the opinion that, in view of W. Va. Code, 18A-5-1 [1969], it is for the Legislature rather than this Court to decide whether public school children may be disciplined by means of paddles.