Should Colorado Teachers Use Paddling to Teach Students a Lesson?

I'm probably one of the last generation of people who has actually been paddled.

Twice, in fact, I had the wood put to my bottom. Now, there is little doubt that I deserved it. I didn't gain a career in making wisecracks on the radio without a lot of practice, most of which came during my school years. Both times I was paddled it was for making snarky remarks in the back of the class.

My misbehaving didn't extend much further than that, so when I was whooped, it was pretty minor. Other stories that I heard, the ones of the kids the teachers really wanted to tee up, were much worse.

We knew there were teachers who would paddle, and others who wouldn't. And, we messed with them accordingly. There was little doubt that the knowledge that someone may beat us with a stick had an influence on how we behaved in their class.

However, were teachers really the people we want deciding whether or not to beat our children? Corporal punishment, from what I understand, is still technically legal in most of the U.S. (including Colorado). The question is, do you support its use?