Jordan Riak (January 11, 1935 – April 2016) was a teacher and activist against corporal punishment who drafted the 1986 bill which banned corporal punishment from public schools in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Early life

Riak was born January 11, 1935, in,

Dover, New Jersey Dover is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. Located on the Rockaway River, Dover is about west of New York City and about west of Newark, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 18,157,

. He was a native of nearby Morristown.

Family

Riak was married to Anne Riak. Riak had three children, Oren Riak, Justin Riak, and Veketa.

Career and activism

Riak began working against corporal punishment when he was residing with his children in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

and he was appalled to find out that corporal punishment was practiced in the Australian school system. Riak began working against corporal punishment when he was residing with his children in Sydney, Australia and he was appalled to find out that corporal punishment was practiced in the Australian school system. Moving to California, he incorporated PTAVE there, and with Assemblymen

Sam Farr Samuel Sharon Farr (born July 4, 1941) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for California's 17th (1993–2013) and 20th congressional districts (2013–17). He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected to Cong ...

, successfully introduced legislation to end corporal punishment in schools in California in 1987, making it the ninth state to do so. Riak's ultimate goal was to turn the United States into a spanking-free nation. Riak worked with David and Blythe Daniel, psychology professors who teach at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus ...

. The Daniels, who advocate children's rights through the We the Children Foundation and through education and workshops, campaigned with Riak for an anti-spanking resolution by the Los Angeles City Council, because "Spanking communicates to everyone that children have no rights, that they don't get the respect that other human beings get, and it's horrible," David Daniel said. Riak believed that neither the responsible parenting of children or the responsible teaching of children should involve violence. Riak was the executive director of Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education from 1992 until his death in 2016.

Death

Riak died in April 2016 at the age of 81 in

Alamo, California Alamo (Spanish: ''Álamo''; meaning "Poplar tree") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, in the United States. It is a suburb located in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay regi ...

Other attributions

The character William Jordan Walcott in

Blake Hutchison Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presuma ...

's 2016 novel Nobody's Property is named partially in honor of Riak. It is additionally inferred in the novel that the woman Will calls "mom" is ardently opposed to corporal punishment and was photographed with Riak at one point in the 1990s. His birthday (January 11) is currently designated as a religious holiday by the

Church of Human Dignity Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

.churchofhumandignity.org - Retrieved January 23, 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riak, Jordan 1935 births 2016 deaths Children's rights activists American activists People from Dover, New Jersey People from Morristown, New Jersey