Jeffersonville —- Twiggs County principals will be pulling out their dusty paddles when school resumes and using them when students act up.

At least that's the Middle Georgia school system's aim.

The Twiggs County school board reinstated its corporal punishment policy this summer to allow students to be spanked to curb misbehavior.

Some board members felt that in many cases, detention for students or a scolding wasn't working.

"We had a policy but we weren't using it," said Ethel Stanley, one of the board's five members.

"Sometimes smaller kids will obey better if they have a paddling. The more you give them rope, the more they try," she said.

"It's something to deter them," she said.

Last year, Twiggs schools reported more than 300 student misconduct incidents and 62 fights, according to a state report. The system has about 1,100 students.

At least two board members said student discipline problems are also a factor in higher-than-normal teacher turnover this past school year, and officials are trying ways to improve student achievement.

Most of the system's misbehavior comes from middle schoolers, said Levi Rozier, Twiggs County's campus police chief. "That's when they're finding themselves," Rozier said.

But for the deterrent to work, teachers and principals will need to be consistent when correcting students' behavior, and parents will have to accept the change, he said.

"It has to be bought in by parents," he said.

Twiggs parents will have to sign a permission slip for their child to be paddled by an administrator, and witnesses will be present.

Experts and education officials are divided on whether paddling actually deters misbehavior.

Murray Straus, co-director of the Family Research Laboratory and a professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, said children who are spanked are more likely to be physically aggressive or become juvenile delinquents.

Others in the field claim that spanking can be effective in some cases for those who repeatedly misbehave.

Twenty-eight states have banned corporal punishment in schools, although Georgia allows school systems to decide whether to use it.

"It's a hotly debated issue," said Sharon Patterson, superintendent of the Bibb County school system. "We do use corporal punishment, but it can't be used as a first line of discipline."

It's also up to the discretion of principals, and parents can opt out.

Houston County does not allow paddling.

Robin Hines, assistant superintendent for operations, said, "We have a great deal of confidence in our progressive discipline procedures that utilize classroom strategies as well as schoolwide procedures that include detention, in-school suspension and home suspension."