Our Work
Educate, Liberate, Elevate!
DSC National Days Of Action
From October 14th-22nd, grassroots organizers, student and parent groups, education advocates and many others join members of the Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC), for their 14th National Week of Action Against School Pushout as a part of their annual mass education campaign to raise awareness and inspire collective action against the devastating and ongoing impacts of school policing and exclusionary discipline policies and practices.
This year’s theme, ‘Educate, Liberate, Elevate!’ amplifies the reality that students flourish when they are surrounded by caring and trusting adults in a school environment where their needs are acknowledged and met with kindness. Inflicting physical harm against students through corporal punishment is still legal in 17 states; and the state of Mississippi leads the nation.
Education & Culture Conference
July 20-22, 2023
The conference theme was “Cultural Identity Restoration and the Role of Culture in Education”. The chosen Theme reflects the mission and values of the Coalition in its work to end the harsh discipline practice of Corporal Punishment which is proven to be both physically and psychologically harmful. It also reflects our aim to uplift a narrative of discipline as a building tool for growth and as a model for creating culturally responsive and nurturing school climates. During this three day conference we are inviting parents, students, educators, organizational leaders’ funders, elected officials, social workers, and other child-serving practitioners to explore effective alternatives to reducing violence in schools and communities by uplifting restorative justice practices, peer mediation, SEL and participatory action research as culturally relevant & responsive teaching tools in the public education.
International Day Of Action to End Corporal Punishment
April 30, 2023
Annually the MS Coalition to End Corporal Punishment joins organizations across the world who are working to end this horrific practice of corporal punishment. This year we premiered The Coalitions first short film, a collection of lived experiences & voices of parents, students & legislators fighting to end corporal punishment.
Coalition Meeting With MS Black Caucus Issues Committee
January 2023
The Coalition met with members on the issues committee of the legislative black caucus to urge the caucus to make ending state sanctioned violence a priority issue for 2023 session. Our strategy has been to meet with key stakeholders and organizations who should protect the rights of children, especially black children who are disproportionality impacted by violence in schools. Because of how deeply rooted the use of violence has been and continues to be in our communities, even when we meet with elected officials and civil rights groups it is hard for many leaders to understand the need for change and effective alternatives over internalized generational oppression. Out of our meetings we got representatives and senators to sponsor legislation to end the use of corporal punishment in Mississippi schools. Although the issues committee did agree that corporal punishment should be abolished it failed to recieve the full vote from majority of the caucus. Our work moving forward to hold the caucus accountable for upholding the needs for holistically safe and responsive schools free of violence. Ending the practice of beating students in schools is non-negotiable and must end.
The Last Lash: A Call to Action to End State Sanctioned Violence
December 6, 2022
Whether it’s in schools, work force or the prison systems, punishment is more readily and harshly given to people of color; especially on the bodies of Black boys and girls.From being used as a tool of domination & control on the plantation to being able to be used as a tool of social control and correction in our schools, from whips, to paddles to policies. We’ve taken the last lash. The fight to end corporal punishment in Mississippi & the other 18 states where it is still legal is a fight for human rights, Childrens rights, dignity, respect & A FIGHT for change.The Last Lash: A Call to Action to End State Sanctioned Violence in Schools.Watch our presentation here.
"Legacy Of The Lash"Workshop with State NAACP
November 12, 2022
It is illegal to beat dogs in the state of Mississippi but you can beat a child. What does that say about the value that WE have on the lives and bodies of our children and specifically black bodies who are disproportionately impacted and more harshly punished in schools, in the prison system, in the workplace, in society overall.
Our Panelists & what they uplifted;
Ellen Reddy; the definition of corporal punishment & historically how the paddle has been used
Dr. James Pratt; connecting historical lynching & corporal punishment; legacy of violence continues in the south & southern black belt
Morgan Craven; disproportionately on students with disabilities and real impacts on everyone in the class (children who are hit and others observing).
Breon Wells; the overall legislative strategy at the Congressional level to end Corporal Punishment and how it ties into the work at the State level how over policing in communities bleeds into police in schools and the punitive and violent framework with which they view Black and Brown kids in the US, but specifically in the South
Chris Scott; Accountability and Harmful/Violent/Traumatic Impact of Exclusionary Discipline (ex. Corporal Punishment, Police in Schools and restraint and Seclusion)
Kameisha; the need for effective alternatives
The response from our session and panel discussion was overwhelming as the audience agreed. The MS Coalition has been invited to partner with the NAACP to host a full conference! We are still working on the ground in communities across the state to have conversations around harsh school discipline, zero-tolerance policies, police in schools and effective alternatives.
Coalition Members & Patrners Meet With Congressman Bennie Thompson
November 9, 2022
MS Coalition to End Corporal Punishment and our Federal Partners with FED SDC met with Congressman Thompson. Congressman Thompson has supported our work and signed on to POSSA(Protecting Our Students In Schools Act) and believes that Corporal Punishment should be eliminated.
National Women's Convention (TX). Workshop: "Healing & Power Building to End Corporal Punishment"
August 2022
Nollie Jenkins Family Center will ground participants in the history of corporal punishment. The “Legacy of the Lash” exposes how the violence of enslavement continues to be perpetuated through corporal punishment and exclusionary, racist discipline policies and practices. In order to pose solutions for systemic change, we must first get to the root of what needs to be changed and why it continues to persist.
This hands-on experiential workshop will be led by organizers who “have been historically silenced or marginalized by systems of oppression.” The workshop will invite participants to “Engage in continual learning” related to understanding how corporal punishment is still on the books in 19 states and invite participants to join with the presenters in “challenging this system of oppression with collective action.”
Meeting with Senator Gunn, Speaker of the House : Which Side Are You On
August 2022
This is not about left or right, this is about right and immorally wrong. The Coalition is pushing for legislation to be introduced in the next session that eliminates corporal punishment. Our strategy has been to work locally in communities and at the state level with policy makers. Regardless of the pushback that we're met with our efforts to educate and uplift the harms of corporal punishment and how disproportionately it is being used on black and brown children, as well as children with disabilities, will continue.
Brown Girls Can Dream Podcast: Students Against Corporal Punishment
July 2022
Nollie Jenkins Family Center youth leaders developed a podcast through the organization's Youth Leadership & Development Summer Program that uplifts issues and topics that affect students like them. In this podcast students break down corporal punishment and the "Spare the Rod Spoil the Child" way of thinking. Listen here.
Moving Mississippi
June 2022
Coalition Member met with Representative Bryan Clark. The importance of meeting with legislators at the state level is to have a strong support when it's time to introduce legislation for the 2023 session. Our asks to Representative Clark were the following:
1. Seek Rep. Clark as co-sponsor to POSSA legislation
2) Need help navigating relationships w/Rep Mickens and other representatives at the state level
3) Facilitate and accompany us to a meeting with Speaker Gunn
4) Facilitate and support the coalition's efforts to meet with the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus
and
5) sponsoring legislationto end corporal punishment
Dignity in Schools Campaign Biennial Workshop
July 2022
The Dignity in Schools Campaign has supported the work of Nollie Jenkins Family Center and the Mississippi Coalition to End Corporal Punishment by including "ending corporal punishment" as one of the National Demands. The Coalition presented during DSC Annual Meeting on the "Legacy of the Lash", a historical analysis or corporal punishment, violence, lynchings and violence in communities of color. If you are interested in participating in one of of "Legacy of the Lash" presentations to learn more, please contact us.
Getting POSSA cosponsored
June 2022
Thanks to our Coalition members, regional and national partners for continuing to push legislation to end state sanctioned violence on the bodies our children in schools. POSSA to prohibit schools receiving federal funding from beating, paddling, or using other forms of corporal punishment in schools, and to provide grants to train school teams to support the academic and behavioral needs of students.
We met with Representative Michael Guest staffer to urge him to cosponsor the bill as well as understanding the harmful impacts of corporal punishment, the disproportionality and the need for effective alternatives to school discipline.
NEPC Talks Education: An Interview On Coporal Punishment
April 2022
The National Education Policy Center produces 30 minute podcasts of high-quality policy information for educators, community members, policymakers, and anyone interested in education. The mission of the National Education Policy Center is to produce and disseminate high-quality, peer-reviewed research to inform education policy discussions. We are guided by the belief that the democratic governance of public education is strengthened when policies are based on sound evidence. Check out MS Coalition to End Corporal Punishment podcast episode featuring Morgan Craven, Ellen Reddy, and Kameisha Smith About Corporal Punishment here .
Interview with Mississippi Coalition to End Corporal Punishment Director
October 9, 2025
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43rd Juvenile Justice Symposium
March 23-25, 2022
MS Coalition networked with teachers, mental health counselors, youth court staff and professionals working in juvenile detention centers across the state of Mississippi. In regards to the school to prison pipeline, zero tolerance policies and harsh discipline like corporal punishment only contribute to the school to prison pipeline. Our stance is that students need to be exposed to conflict resolution, peer mediation, restorative justice models, scholars of peace and other alternatives that teach them how to deal with conflict and addresses behavioral issues. Visit our "Alternatives" Page to learn more.
Developing The Advocacy Toolkit
March 2022
Our Coalition is comprised of small local organizations, individuals and national organizations. We created a tool kit with talking points, historical analysis, research highlighting the disproportionality across the 19 states that still allow it, and effective alternatives. We've used this toolkit for community meetings and meetings with stakeholders including pastors, policy makers and school districts. To view our toolkit, visit the resource page.
Advocacy Day at Mississippi State Capitol
March 11, 2022
MS Coalition to End Corporal Punishment participated in Advocacy Day at the State Capitol hosted by the MS Coalition to End Domestic Violence.
The purpose of the 2022 MCADV Advocacy Day is to bring awareness to the collaborative work of our organization, our community partners, and MS legislators to provide life saving polices for the citizens of Mississippi.
The Mississippi Coalition was formed in 2020 to advance the efforts by Nollie Jenkins Family Center to eliminate corporal punishment in public schools across Mississippi. Visit our website for more info at https://www.mscoalitiontoendcorporalpunishment.org
Mississippi leads the country in the use of corporal punishment in schools-nearly one-third of all students hit in the U.S. are in Mississippi schools. Teachers & administrators beat students even though families, medical professionals, researchers, and educators agree it is harmful and ineffective
SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING
Serving All Students: Promoting a Healthier, More Supportive School Environment
February 16, 2022
The upcoming hearing by the House Education and Labor Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee on tomorrow will consider Restraint & Seclusion and Corporal Punishment. My colleague & co-facilitator of the Federal Corporal Punishment Working Group, Morgan Craven will give testimony. This hearing is before the House Democrat
and Republican members. Watch hearing here.
MS Coalition Presentation to MS NAACP Education Committee
January 13, 2022
Presentation to Education Committee to make ending corporal punishment in Mississippi one of the goals of the MS NAACP.
Social Emotional Learning Training with Communities for Just School Fund
January 21, 2022
SEL has become a new terms but in actuality organization like ours have always incorporated social emotional learniing in how organize and interact with community. Furthermore, the topic of SEL among legislators and schools give the Coalition the opportunity to highlight the fact that we can have schools that are socially & emotionally safe while still using corporal punishment in schools.
NO HIT ZONE Training
January 27, 2022
MS Coalition is planning to implement NO HIT Zones in spaces across communities while partnering with the national NO HIT ZONES organization.
Reclaiming SEL Webinar
December 1, 2021
Currently, there is a suite of bills at the federal level that would provide historic levels of funding for school districts to invest in social-emotional learning, restorative justice, and hire counselors, psychologists, social workers, and other mental health practitioners. These bills would also remove federal funding from policing and ban corporal punishment. In order to make sure schools are holistically safe, we cannot just add a social-emotional learning curriculum without also changing school climate conditions that police, punish, and criminalize Black and Brown children. We cannot just incentivize social-emotional learning through grant programs without getting rid of police and corporal punishment.
This webinar will bring organizers, policy advocates, school district officials, educators, and other education stakeholders together to discuss the importance of federal engagement in ensuring education justice. The webinar will also highlight the powerful, withstanding grassroots efforts that continue to influence and shape policy and consider what implementation must look like if these bills are passed.