I'm sure there are plenty of moms out there that would agree with you. Sarah posted about the local affiliate of MomsRising http://trianglemau.wordpress.com/ You could contact them to see if this is an issue the group wants to address in its legislative lobbying effort. IOr, maybe you could start a petition that interested moms on this site could sign and pass on to their friends. Once the signatures are collected, you could send it on to the appropriate state lawmakers and try to get a bill introduced. 

Here's a link to that story: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1053721.html.

And a column that Ruth Sheehan wrote on the subject: http://www.newsobserver.com/138/story/1055141.html

And here's a link to the group working to get some new legislation: http://www.actionforchildren.org/

I think the law lets each school decide how they want to deal with it and Wake, Chapel Hill, Chatham and Durham have opted against corporal punishment, but Johnston, Harnett and Franklin have not.

I couldn't believe this when I read about it myself. I grew up in a spanking household (though my mom will tell you I was pretty near perfect so it rarely resulted in this. But it did sometimes).

Still, in my opinion, there are much better ways to discipline than to spank. And if it's anyone's decision to make it's the parents.

You said: "as a VERY OBEDIENT child I was scared I'd do something wrong and end up being paddled." Isn't the the very point of corporal punishment? Letting kids know that there are consequences for thier actions. I think we've mollycoddled, and "reasoned with"our children to the point where they have no fear or respect for adults. I went to catholic schools in the northeast where the nuns rapped our knuckles with rulers when we misbehaved or taped our mouths shut if we couldnt be quiet in the classroom. We banged erasers clean (im sure this is considered a health risk and yet another form of discipline teachers cant use) swept floors, washed blackboards and copied bible and dictionary pages untill we thought our hands would fall off. But it only took seeing that ruler come out once or twice before everyone would straighten up and fly right. Kids need strict discipline or they become whiney brats. Why do you think some of the teens today are such a problem? If a swat on the behind is what it takes to make a return to respectful, well-behavedchildren then swat away.

I have to say that I STRONGLY disagree with Realisticmomma. Thankfylly, we as a society no longer accept the idea that its ok for nuns to beat students with a ruler. Everyone I know who endured that type of treatment has terrible memories and would never allow his or her own children to experience such a thing in school. As far as spanking or "swatting" at home goes, I just believe that there are far less cruel and more effective ways to teach a child respect and discipline. I think "swatting" is the lazy way out. Why would you want your children to fear you??? In this crazy, violent world, home should be a safe, forgiving, happy place for our children. There are plenty of ways to TEACH a child how to behave rather than physically hurting them when we do not approve of their behavior. Children learn from us, and if you ask me, hitting, swatting, spanking, whatever you may call it, just teaches an impretionable child all the wrong things.