BALTIMORE — Catonsville author Tara Ebersole’s first foray into fiction writing drew her deep into researching corporal punishment in education. She was stunned to discover the practice is still legal in some settings in Maryland.
Although corporal punishment cannot be administered to a public school student in Maryland, the law is largely silent on its use in other institutions, such as private schools, nonpublic schools and schools operated by religious organizations.
Ebersole, now a Community College of Baltimore County professor, started her research while mining her early experiences as a teacher for her first novel. When she taught at a public junior high school in Tennessee, she was required to use a 2-foot wooden paddle on students. She planned to weave facts into the story that might prompt a casual reader to rethink the merits of physically disciplining children.
