SPRINGTOWN (WBAP/KLIF News) — A billboard paid for by The Satanic Temple is advertising an anti-corporal punishment message in Springtown, just northwest of Fort Worth.
Springtown ISD’s superintendent says the schools haven’t practiced corporal punishment in years, even though the district does allow it.
“It’s not a deal where parents can opt out. Parents have to opt in,” superintendent Mike Kelly told WFAA-TV. “When I say opt in, they have to sign a letter requesting corporal punishment be utilized.”
The Massachussetts-based Satanic Temple targeted Springtown because of an incident five years ago that ultimately led to the current policy. Before 2012, male teachers in Springtown could spank boys and female teachers could spank girls.
In a statement, The Satanic Temple called Springtown a “barbaric backwater town where dysfunctional and possibly sexually disturbed middle-aged men may depravedly titillate themselves by violently spanking teenaged girls,” though there has not been a report of spanking since the 2012 incident.
