School paddling alive in Texas

If you thought corporal punishment in schools was a thing of the past, even in the United States, here’s a report from Houston, Texas, from August of this year (2026) to change your mind. A High School sophomore (likely aged 15 or 16) got three swats with a paddle for a number of infractions

This is an extract from a report that runs about 1,400 words online from The Chron (Houston, Texas), 21 August 2026. Read the full report here.

A shoutout to the CP-Rem online forum, where I first saw this report.

Texas sports’ old-school discipline divides coaches, parents, players

By Eddie Maisonet, Sports Editor

Many parents across the country have demanded Congress outlaw corporal punishment in schools, but for many counties and school districts in Texas, the practice is still very much in play.

Earlier this month, Noah Lopez was preparing to kick off his football story at Port Arthur Memorial High School as a member of the Titans. Port Arthur, home of football legends like Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson and star running backs Joe Washington and Jamaal Charles, has a rich history on the gridiron, and Lopez was hopeful to write his own page in the books. 

Yet after attending practice for nearly a month, Lopez alleges his coach hit him with a paddle as a means of corporal punishment, as the sophomore running back missed a day of school after his mother was involved in a serious car crash and he didn’t have an immediate ride to get there. Moreover, because Lopez showed up to practice wearing the wrong-colored football pants and never gave his position coach his phone number, the coach hit him three times with a paddle.

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“They were saying, ‘Oh, you got the wrong football pants,’” Lopez said to KPRC’s Ajay Patel on Wednesday. “And then my coach, the head coach, he said, ‘Oh, he also didn’t go to school.’ And they were saying, ‘Dang, that’s two mistakes.’ And then my position coach was in there because I’m a running back, and then he said, ‘Oh, I also don’t have his number.’ So then there were three mistakes.”

In the interview, Lopez’s father, Henry, seemed more upset by the process than by the discipline itself.

“He feels like it wasn’t punishment. He feels like he got assaulted,” Henry Lopez said to KPRC. “They should have called me and said, ‘Hey, I got your son here. I’m about to pop him. I’m just letting you know.’ They didn’t let me know.”

Corporal punishment, as defined by the Texas Education Code Section 37.0011, is the deliberate infliction of physical pain by hitting, paddling, spanking, slapping, or any other physical force used as a means of discipline. The tradition is steeped in cultural traditions and at times is a polarizing political issue. In 1941, state-sanctioned physical punishment was phased out in adult prisons. Corporal punishment also is prohibited in Texas foster care placements and Texas Juvenile Justice Department facilities. 

In Texas, it remains legal for public and charter schools to use corporal punishment if local districts choose to permit it. A 2021 study conducted found that over 1,100 public schools in Texas reported using corporal punishment to discipline more than 12,000 students.

After the Port Arthur incident, Chron reached out to several high school coaches, administrators and parents across the state about the use and observance of corporal punishment in athletics. While the vast majority claim never to have engaged in the practice, some remember regularly witnessing it in a previous era. For parents, responses ranged from steadfast refusal to acceptance of old-school discipline, so long as it is properly communicated. 

“We don’t punish, we penalize.”

After speaking with six high school athletic directors, football coaches and basketball coaches in Houston, Austin and Dallas, none reported having previously or currently participated in any form of corporal punishment. 

“I have been coaching 34 years, and I’ve never done it,” Houston Lamar basketball coach Jerry Van Dusen said. 

Many of the men interviewed have served in athletics for over two decades, and upon hearing the news of what transpired in Port Arthur, several responded with groans or visible expressions of disapproval when told about the allegations during Zoom interviews.

“I’ve been in the game for 28 years, and I’ve never done that,” Galveston O’Connell athletic director Derek Martin said. “I don’t even know any other coaches personally who have done it. That’s extreme.!” 

As published online in The Chron (Houston, Texas, United States), 21 August 2026.

Read the full report here

Picture credit: Generated by Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)

 

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