Moultrie city leaders work to restore discipline in school

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - One South Georgia community is working hard to take back control over its school system in terms of discipline.

And it's a lot more "old fashion" than you would think.

Moultrie City Manager Peter Dillard said the city is working to get students back on track.

“Many parents have gotten the misunderstanding that they cannot discipline their children and that’s just not true,” said Dillard.

A series of student fights toward the end of last academic school year has city leaders and parents coming up with solutions to discipline children.

“They had some fights at the school and teenagers who appeared to be out of control and the council members were very concerned and wanted to see what the community could do,” said Dillard.

On Monday, Dillard and city council members held a forum to showcase what parents could do to keep their kids in line and it’s old fashion.

“Obviously it’s best to have time-out or various other techniques, everybody has opinions, but if you have to resort to corporal punishment, you can take a belt and you can spank your child,” explained Dillard.

During the forum, the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and Hero House, a children’s advocacy center, provided Georgia laws on disciplining children and what rights the parents have.

“If DFCS is called, they will investigate, but they may turn around and say, ‘I agree with you.’ You really should discipline your child,” said Dillard.

Dillard said it’s important to stay in control.

Don’t beat your children to where scaring occurs or go to extremities of burning or hitting them in the face.

It's the city's hope that this effort will help teachers in the classroom.

“Teacher’s have one of the toughest roles and hopefully parents will see they can participate and hopefully they will support the teachers,” said Dillard.

Dillard said that they more than likely will not have another forum on the topic as he believes parents walked away with enough information.

It’s his hopes that parents will exercise what they’ve learned during the town hall discussion.

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