“Nadine Block tells the story of the effort against corporal punishment in Ohio in an engaging manner. It is a hopeful story that reminds us that with determination, good organizing, and having right on our sides the tide can be turned to ensure our children are safe and protected in schools and child-care facilities. My denomination, The United Methodist Church, stands for an end to corporal punishment in schools.”
–Jim Winkler, General Secretary, United Methodist General Board of Church & Society
“Breaking the Paddle provides an excellent compendium of history, experience and resources that both celebrates success in the efforts to ban corporal punishment in our schools, while providing encouragement to advocates to persevere until total victory is achieved. While it sheds light on one of the darkest aspects of the American educational system, it also raises hope that someday soon our national ethic will recognize that children have the right to be free from physical harm.”
–Tom Vitaglione, Sr. Fellow for Action for Children NC (retired)
“Block writes in an engaging manner combining memoir, history, and a powerful rationale for ending school corporal punishment. In this book, parents, educators, and professionals who work with families will find tools for protecting children from this outdated and harmful discipline.”
–Ted Strickland, State of Ohio Governor 2006-2010.
Physical punishment is one of the most serious public health problems of our time. Nadine Block has written a superb book which addresses this issue on personal, national, and international levels. Breaking the Paddle is poignant and inspiring. If hitting a child is not wrong, then nothing is wrong. Block makes this case brilliantly.
–Paul C. Holinger, M.D., M.P.H.
“One hundred years from now, people will marvel that we once lived in a country where violence against children was not only condoned but sanctioned by law. This future generation will also be grateful for the work of Nadine Block and so many others who fought the good fight to end the infliction of pain as a means of disciplining children. This book tells the story of these courageous few–and shows us all there is still time to be on the right side of history.”
–Victor Vieth, Executive Director, National Child Protection Training Center
“Every school board member and every other policy maker having an impact on education should read this book. Nadine Block’s research provides irrefutable evidence that this archaic practice only handicaps our schools if we expect them to graduate productive and responsible citizens.”
–Ken Zornes,Former Dallas School Board President
At the time when efforts to bring American school children under the cloak of fundamental human rights guarantees were in their very earliest stages, and calls for reform consisted of a mere few, faint voices in the wilderness, Nadine Block entered the scene. She quickly became a key player. Today, thanks in large part to her efforts, that voice in the wilderness has grown into a grand chorus, and the reform we yearned for — extending to school children the same fundamental legal protection against assault and battery that applies to everyone else — is now within grasp. Thank you, Nadine! And thank you for sharing the poignant details of your journey in Breaking the Paddle: Ending School Corporal Punishment.
–Jordan Riak, Executive Director of Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education
“Set against the backdrop of her own administrative, legislative and personal struggles to ban corporal punishment in Ohio public schools, Block provides the construct and all necessary resources for any child advocate working to eliminate this harmful practice in his/her community. Using an evidence-based, data-driven approach to refute longstanding arguments of religion, race or culture as a means to justify corporal punishment, this work is a call to action to protect the hundreds of thousands of children still being paddled in our schools each year.”
–Jonathan Thackeray, MD
Purchase at: