essay on corporal punishment should be abolished in schools

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Corporal Punishment Should Be Abolished In Schools

• January 30, 2023 February 1, 2023
• 13 Comments
• Articles , School Guide

Corporal punishment, also known as physical punishment or physical discipline, is the act of using physical force to inflict pain as a means of punishing the misbehaviour of students.

Some schools around the world still engage in this form of punishment, but there is a growing movement to abolish it. 

In this blog post, we will discuss reasons why corporal punishment should be abolished in schools. 

We will examine the effects of corporal punishment on students, its alternatives, the legal and moral implications of using physical force as a means of discipline. 

However, our goal is to educate readers on the detrimental effects of corporal punishment and advocate for more effective and humane methods of discipline in schools.

Brief History Of Corporal Punishment In Nigeria

Corporal punishment has been used as a form of discipline in schools in Nigeria for many decades. The practice was introduced during colonial rule in the 19th century and has been a part of the educational system since then.

In the early 20th century, schools widely use corporal punishment as a means of maintaining order and discipline. 

The punishment was inflicted with a cane or ruler, and students were beaten for several offences. This ranges from misbehaviour to poor academic performance.

Despite widespread criticism of the practice, the use of corporal punishment in schools continued in Nigeria throughout the 20th century. 

In the 1990s, human rights organizations began to push for the ban of corporal punishment in schools, citing the negative effects on students’ physical and emotional well-being.

In the year 2000, the Nigerian government banned the use of corporal punishment in schools, but the ban was largely ignored, and the practice continued in many schools. Recently, there has been a renewed effort to enforce the ban and promote alternative forms of discipline in schools.

Today, corporal punishment in schools remains a controversial issue in Nigeria, with some educators and parents still advocating for its use. 

However, the majority of Nigerians now recognize that it is a harmful and outdated form of discipline that schools should no longer use on students.

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Reasons corporal punishment should be abolished in schools.

Corporal punishment has been a widely debated topic in the education system for many years. 

While some proponents argue that it is an effective means of maintaining order and discipline in schools, the majority of evidence suggests that it is not only ineffective but also harmful to students.

The Ineffectiveness Of Corporal Punishment

1. It is important to note that corporal punishment is often used as a quick-fix solution for misbehaviour in schools, but it does not address the root causes of the problem. 

Instead, it only serves to temporarily suppress the behaviour without addressing the underlying issue. Research has shown that students who are subjected to corporal punishment are more likely to repeat the same behaviour in the future rather than learn from their mistakes.

2. The physical harm caused by corporal punishment can have long-lasting effects on students. Studies have linked it to physical injuries, including bruises, cuts, and broken bones. 

Furthermore, physical punishment can harm students’ emotional and mental well-being, leading to increased levels of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.

3. It reinforces a harmful message to students that violence is an acceptable way to resolve conflicts. This can harm students’ development and relationships, as they may internalize this message and adopt aggressive behaviour patterns in their personal lives.

4. It is a violation of students’ human rights and dignity. It is widely recognized that all individuals have the right to protection from cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment, and corporal punishment contravenes this principle.

The Legal And Ethical Issues Surrounding Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment raises legal and ethical issues because it involves physical force and can result in injury. 

In many countries, it is illegal in schools, and some countries have banned it altogether for children and adults. 

The United Nations has called for the prohibition of all corporal punishment, stating that it violates the rights to dignity, security and physical integrity. 

Ethically, it raises questions about the use of violence as a means of discipline and the right of children to be protected from physical harm. 

The use of corporal punishment may also perpetuate a cycle of violence and contribute to a broader culture of violence in society.

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Harms caused by corporal punishment.

1. Physical harm:  It can cause physical injury, ranging from bruises to serious harm, such as broken bones.

2. Psychological harm:  It can lead to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and decreased sense of security.

3. Increased aggression:  Research has shown that punishing children physically is likely to lead them to engage in aggressive behaviour.

4. Damaged parent-child relationship:  It can damage the trust and bond between parent and child.

5. Lack of learning:  Children who are punished physically may not understand the reasons for their behaviour and may not learn alternative behaviours.

6. Reinforcement of violence:  It may contribute to a broader culture of violence in society by normalizing the use of physical force.

7. Legal implications:  In some countries, physical punishment of children is illegal, and parents may face legal consequences for using it.

The Solution To Corporal Punishment

Alternative forms of discipline that have proven to be more effective.

Alternative forms of discipline are methods of correcting behaviour that differ from traditional forms, such as punishment and physical reprimand. 

Research has shown that these alternative forms can be more effective in promoting long-term changes in behaviour and improving child development outcomes.

1. Positive Reinforcement:  This approach focuses on rewarding positive behaviour, rather than punishing negative behaviour. This can include praise, privileges, and tangible rewards.

2. Redirection:  Instead of punishing, redirecting focuses on guiding the child towards more positive behaviour. This can involve redirecting the child’s attention to a more appropriate activity.

3. Problem-Solving:  Encouraging children to find solutions to their problems and conflicts helps build problem-solving skills and fosters independence. This can involve teaching children to identify and express their feelings, as well as teaching negotiation and compromise skills.

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4. Natural Consequences:  Allowing children to experience the consequences of their actions helps them understand cause-and-effect relationships. This can include allowing them to suffer the consequences of their choices, like cleaning up a mess they made.

5. Limit-Setting:  This approach involves setting clear boundaries and consequences for unacceptable behaviour. It also involves consistent follow-through to enforce the consequences.

These alternative forms of discipline have shown to be more effective in promoting positive behaviour changes and improving child outcomes in the long term. It proves to be a better alternative in comparison to traditional forms of discipline like punishment and physical chastisement. 

By fostering positive relationships and encouraging problem-solving skills, alternative forms of discipline can help children develop into well-adjusted, responsible adults.

The evidence clearly shows that corporal punishment is ineffective and harmful to students and should be abolished in schools. 

Instead, teachers should focus on alternative forms of discipline that are more effective and respectful. This include positive reinforcement, restorative justice, and counselling. 

By promoting and implementing non-violent forms of discipline in schools, we can create a safer and more supportive learning environment for all students.

Do you have any questions about this blog post? Drop your questions in the comment section of this post.  Like and Follow our Page on Facebook   here.

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13 thoughts on “Corporal Punishment Should Be Abolished In Schools”

Really helpful

wow indeed a strong point

You really help me with this thank you very much

Corporal punishment should be eliminate against

This really helped me a lot in my class debate

We are glad we can help. Thank you for stopping by.

Thanks, I’m with you

It really helps me a lot thanks for the points

With the amount of stubborness that is destroying schools due to absence of corporal punishment, you want to abolish it? think twice.

Am with you ooo

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Recommendations, lead authors, council on school health executive committee, 2022–2023, corporal punishment in schools.

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Mandy A. Allison , Nathaniel Beers , Jaime W. Peterson , COUNCIL ON SCHOOL HEALTH; Corporal Punishment in Schools. Pediatrics September 2023; 152 (3): e2023063284. 10.1542/peds.2023-063284

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The use of corporal punishment in schools is not an effective or ethical method for management of behavior concerns and causes harm to students. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that corporal punishment in all school settings be abolished in all states by law and replaced by alternative forms of student behavior management. Corporal punishment remains legal in many public and private schools in the United States and is disproportionately used among Black students and children with disabilities. The aims of this policy statement are to review the incidence of school-based corporal punishment; the negative physical, psychological, and developmental impact of corporal punishment on students; and the need for continued advocacy by pediatricians, educators, and parents to abolish corporal punishment in all schools.

Corporal punishment, defined as the infliction of pain upon a person’s body as punishment, is not an effective or ethical method for management of behavior concerns and causes harm to students. Therefore, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that corporal punishment in all school settings be abolished in all states by law and that alternative age-appropriate and nonviolent forms of student behavior management be used. This policy statement is aligned with the AAP policy statement “Effective Discipline to Raise Healthy Children,” 1   which provides evidence to support the recommendation that “adults caring for children use healthy forms of discipline, such as positive reinforcement of appropriate behaviors, setting limits, redirecting, and setting future expectations.” The AAP recommends “that parents do not use spanking, hitting, slapping, threatening, insulting, humiliating, or shaming.”

The Civil Rights Data Collection is conducted by the US Department of Education to measure key markers of education and civil rights in US public schools. 2   These data include children in preschool and children and adolescents in kindergarten through 12th grade in public schools. Corporal punishment is defined by the Civil Rights Data Collection as “paddling, spanking, or other forms of physical punishment imposed on a child.” In Ingraham v Wright , the US Supreme Court ruled school-based corporal punishment as constitutional, leaving states to decide on the issue. 3   Corporal punishment in schools remains legal despite the evidence that it is ineffective and harmful and despite the availability of effective and nonviolent discipline measures. At present, corporal punishment is legal in public schools in 18 states and legal in private schools in all states except Iowa and New Jersey ( Table 1 ). 4   Across the United States, 96% of public schools report not using corporal punishment. 5   However, the rates of corporal punishment in schools that do use it range from 0.6% to 9.0% of students per year, with the highest rates in states located in the southern United States. 5   These rates translate to almost 70 000 students being struck at least once by school personnel during the school year. 6  

States in Which Corporal Punishment Remains Legal in Public Schools in 2022

Corporal punishment may be banned in certain cities or schools; policy users should verify up-to-date laws in their states.

Banned in public schools for students with disabilities.

Among US schools that use corporal punishment, racial, gender, and ability disparities exist: students who have disabilities and identify as Black or male are more likely to experience corporal punishment than students who do not have disabilities and identify as white or female. 7 – 9   “Adultification bias,” in which “adults perceive Black youth as being older than they actually are,” 10   may be one type of bias that may lead educators to justify more harsh punishment of Black students. 11   National data show that Black boys are nearly twice as likely to be struck as white boys (14% vs 7.5%), and Black girls are more than 3 times as likely to be struck as white girls (5.2% vs 1.7%). 12   Analysis of state-level data shows that some states have even greater disparities in the use of corporal punishment against Black students compared with white students. 5 , 8 , 9 , 13  

Fourteen percent of children and adolescents age 3 through 21 years are identified as having a disability, defined by receiving services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (these are students with an Individualized Education Program). 14   National data show that among students who received physical punishment at school, 16.5% were served under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; therefore, students with disabilities are overrepresented among students who are physically punished at school. 6   Analysis of state-level data shows that some states have greater disparities in the use of corporal punishment against students with identified disabilities versus those without. 7   When students with disabilities are subjected to corporal punishment for behaviors associated with their disabilities, they are unjustly and excessively punished and deprived of access to quality education and a safe learning environment. 7   Students with intellectual disability who receive corporal punishment may find it challenging to understand social rules, the consequence of their actions, or the reason behind their punishment. In addition, they may be unable to communicate the incident to their parent(s). For students possessing more than 1 marginalized identity (eg, race and ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation), the presence of these shared identities may target them for increased corporal punishment and demonstrates the unique perils described by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw’s Intersectionality framework. 15  

Corporal punishment is not effective as a disciplinary method. 1   The majority of studies about the effects of corporal punishment on children and adolescents have focused on punishment used by parents or primary caregivers and have been reviewed elsewhere. 6 , 7   Meta-analyses conducted in 2013 and 2016 indicate that spanking by parents or primary caregivers is associated with worse, not better, behaviors among children. 12 , 16   A 2017 survey study among parents from a variety of countries and cultures suggests that use of corporal punishment is associated with more problematic, externalizing behaviors among children across cultures, regardless of parental perception of the severity or justness of the punishment. 17   In the short-term, corporal punishment may cause a child or adolescent to be fearful and immediately obedient. However, over the long-term, corporal punishment does not improve behavior. Corporal punishment by parents or caregivers is associated with a range of negative effects among children and adolescents, including a higher incidence of behavior and mental health problems, impaired cognitive development, poor educational outcomes, impaired social-emotional development, problems with the ongoing relationship between parents and children, a higher risk for physical abuse, increased aggression and perpetration of violence, antisocial behavior, and decreased moral internalization of appropriate behavior. 18   A meta-analysis of studies regarding spanking and child outcomes found that being spanked as a child was associated with adult antisocial behavior, adult mental health problems, and adult support for physical punishment. 12   Studies regarding use of physical punishment and outcomes necessarily use observational rather than experimental designs and show association rather than causation; however, the consistency of findings across studies and over time suggest that it may be appropriate to draw causal conclusions. 18  

Based on these findings, it follows that corporal punishment inflicted on students by school personnel also causes harm. A 2019 survey of 18 to 23 year old young adults who attended high school in US states where corporal punishment is legal found that 16% (128 of 803) had experienced corporal punishment at school. 18   Among those who experienced corporal punishment, 82% reported it was painful and 22% reported they had bruises or other injuries from corporal punishment. The young adults who reported experiencing corporal punishment reported lower cumulative high school grade point averages and lower feelings of school belonging. Most studies about the effects of corporal punishment in schools have been conducted in countries other than the United States. One ecological study across 88 countries found that countries that prohibited corporal punishment at home and in schools had a lower self-reported prevalence of physical fighting among male and female adolescents attending school. 19   This effect was reduced to less physical fighting among female adolescents only when countries prohibited corporal punishment in schools but not at home. 19   Although an ecological study cannot determine whether a true association exists between the independent (corporal punishment) and dependent (physical fighting) variables, this study does suggest that additional research to establish a true association should be conducted. A longitudinal survey study conducted among students in Korea showed that students who reported being verbally or physically aggressive toward others were more likely to receive corporal punishment from teachers and that this resulted in students continuing to be more aggressive in the future, resulting in a cycle that perpetuates aggression. 20   Finally, a longitudinal study conducted in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam found that in at least 2 out of the 4 countries, students who experienced corporal punishment at school had lower self-efficacy, self-esteem, and math scores over time compared with students who did not experience corporal punishment at school. 21  

Children cannot learn when they do not feel safe. A large number of effective, age-appropriate, nonviolent, and evidence-based alternatives to corporal punishment exist to promote desired student behaviors. 22   There are opportunities for schools to promote the behaviors by having curricula in place to support the social-emotional learning as well as alternative interventions for behaviors when they do occur, including: Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, restorative justice, conflict resolution, mentoring, and individual therapy. 5   For children exposed to corporal punishment in school settings, schools must not only implement alternative discipline strategies, but simultaneously use trauma informed practices to repair trust between students and school adults and establish safe learning environments wherein adults are role-modeling positive alternative behaviors. When advocating for policies and practices that support the well-being of students, pediatrician advocates should be aware and respectful of the expertise of those in the field of education. The US and states’ Departments of Education provide information on tools, resources, and technical assistance for creating a supportive school climate and promoting desired student behaviors ( https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/support.html ).

Given the harm caused by corporal punishment in schools and the availability of alternative, effective nonviolent behavior interventions, the AAP recommends that corporal punishment in all school settings be abolished in all states by law and that alternative age-appropriate and nonviolent forms of student behavior management be used. Several factors continue to prevent some states from passing laws prohibiting corporal punishment, including concern about infringement on school district rights, cultural practices, and even some parents’ preference for paddling over suspension. 23 – 25   Therefore, federal legislation may be required to overcome these barriers. 26  

Pediatricians, educators, and parents play a critical role in advocating for the end of corporal punishment in schools within the US as well as internationally.

As noted in the AAP policy statement, “The Impact of Racism on Child and Adolescent Health,” 27   pediatricians and other child health providers are in a position to “address and ameliorate the effects of racism on children and adolescents.” Advocating to end corporal punishment, which is disproportionately used among Black, male students, is one way to address inequities based on race and reduce harm to Black students.

Children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to corporal punishment. When students with disabilities are subjected to corporal punishment for behaviors associated with their disabilities, they are unjustly and excessively punished and deprived of access to quality education and a safe learning environment. Advocating to end corporal punishment, which is disproportionately used among children with disabilities, is also a way to address inequities based on disability status and reduce harm to students with disabilities.

Alternative age-appropriate and nonviolent behavioral strategies should be encouraged in place of corporal punishment, such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, restorative justice, conflict resolution, mentoring, and individual therapy.

Mandy A. Allison, MD, MSPH, Med, FAAP

Nathaniel Beers, MD, MPA, FAAP

Jaime W. Peterson, MD, MPH, FAAP

Sonja C. O’Leary, MD, FAAP, Chairperson

Sara Bode, MD, FAAP, Chairperson-Elect

Marti Baum, MD, FAAP

Katherine A. Connor, MD, MSPH, FAAP

Emily Frank, MD, FAAP

Erica Gibson, MD, FAAP

Marian Larkin, MD, FAAP

Tracie Newman, MD, MPH, FAAP

Yuri Okuizumi-Wu, MD, FAAP

Ryan Padrez, MD, FAAP

Heidi Schumacher, MD, FAAP

Anna Goddard, PhD, APRN, CPNP-PC – School-Based Health Alliance

Kate King, DNP, RN, MSN – National Association of School Nurses

Erika Ryst, MD – American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Carolyn McCarty, PhD

All authors drafted the initial manuscript, critically reviewed and revised the manuscript, approved the final manuscript as submitted, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Policy statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics benefit from expertise and resources of liaisons and internal (AAP) and external reviewers. However, policy statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics may not reflect the views of the liaisons or the organizations or government agencies that they represent.

The guidance in this statement does not indicate an exclusive course of treatment or serve as a standard of medical care. Variations, taking into account individual circumstances, may be appropriate.

All policy statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics automatically expire 5 years after publication unless reaffirmed, revised, or retired at or before that time.

This document is copyrighted and is property of the American Academy of Pediatrics and its Board of Directors. All authors have filed conflict of interest statements with the American Academy of Pediatrics. Any conflicts have been resolved through a process approved by the Board of Directors. The American Academy of Pediatrics has neither solicited nor accepted any commercial involvement in the development of the content of this publication.

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Discipline in Schools: Why is Hitting Still an Option?

• Posted April 3, 2024
• By Jill Anderson
• Counseling and Mental Health
• Education Policy
• Education Reform

While most schools in the United States do not report using corporal punishment — the use of pain as punishment — it still impacts tens of thousands of students annually, particularly in states where it remains legal.

Jaime Peterson , a pediatrician and assistant professor at Oregon Health and Science University, along with the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a call this fall again to end of such practices in school. “As pediatricians, we don't recommend corporal punishment. We know it's not an effective form of discipline. Spanking and hitting a child might help a behavior in the short term. They might be fearful and obedient,” she says. “But in the long term it has a lot of negative consequences. But if it's how you discipline your child at home, parents are often teachers, and school personnel, and school board members that that's a practice in their community at home that seems acceptable. It may be hard to change it.”

It also disproportionately impacts certain demographics such as Black students and students with disabilities.

With 17 states where corporal punishment is still legal today, Peterson urges parents, educators, and policymakers to mobilize and push for abolition of this practice. Calling this form of punishment ineffective, she urges parents and schools to adopt more supportive and positive disciplinary practices that work.

“Saying that it's not allowed isn't going to change a school culture entirely. We don't know what other forms of discipline will come in,” she says. “I think really in the simplest forms when I talk with families, I remind them that our goal is no pain — so that's corporal punishment — no shame, and no blame when we discipline children. No pain, no shame, no blame.”

In this episode of the EdCast, we discuss the prevalence and effects of corporal punishment in schools, and what it’s going to take to end it for good.

JILL ANDERSON: I'm Jill Anderson. This is the Harvard EdCast. 

Jaime Peterson knows corporal punishment is ineffective at disciplining students and doesn't create safe spaces to learn. Yet it's still legal in 17 states around the country and affects tens of thousands of students each year. She's a pediatrician, who along with the American Academy of Pediatrics, renewed a call this school year to outlaw corporal punishment.

Despite advances in education and child welfare, the practice of using physical pain still persists in some schools. Teenagers being paddled, students being left black and blue, and district leaders defending the practice have been reported in the past year. I wanted to know more about the prevalence of corporal punishment and what is standing in the way of abandoning this practice.

When I first heard about this many, many, many years ago, I was interviewing somebody. And they mentioned this is still happening in schools. It was shocking. And to think it's 2024 and a policy recommendation even has to be released telling not to do this is really shocking. 

What is corporal punishment? And what does that look like in schools today?

JAIME PETERSON: Corporal punishment is usually defined as the use of pain on a person's body as a form of punishment. So often defined as paddling, spanking, or the use of other objects as a form of punishment. The good news is that it's really not happening in a lot of schools. I think the most recent data is that 96% of schools in the US do not report any use of corporal punishment. So that feels good. Yet, the answer is not zero. There are still children who are experiencing it today.

JILL ANDERSON: I think the policy statement — and again, this may have changed since it was released several months ago — 70,000 students experience corporal punishment each year.

JAIME PETERSON: You're right. That number is from 2017 from the Civil Rights data collection, which is done by the US Department of Education. And I think in that school year there were close to 51 million children enrolled in public schools. So you're right. 4% of 51 million is close to 70,000 children experienced corporal punishment at least once, which they define as being struck at least once by school personnel during the school year.

JILL ANDERSON: And so where are we at? Because I think it was maybe 18 or 17 states still allowed this. Has that number changed at all?

JAIME PETERSON: They only report this data every four years. So the 2020 to 2021 data is now out, which wasn't available when we released the most recent statement. And the numbers dropped. But you have to remember, what else was happening in 2020? Schools were locked down for COVID. You have to always remember the context within which you look at this data.

So the numbers I think dropped to closer to 20,000 in 2020 to 2021. But children were not in school for a large portion of that time. The in-person time was much lower. So those numbers look better, to your point. There are now 17 states — and I do feel like this is constantly evolving — 17 states where it is still legal.

It is legal in all private schools, except for Iowa, New York, Maryland, and New Jersey. But corporal punishment remains legal in 17 states in the US.

JILL ANDERSON: What would you say is keeping some of these states or most of these states from banning this form of discipline in schools?

JAIME PETERSON: Yeah, I think this was a really interesting thing to learn when we went back to the policy statement, is that a lot of this comes from a Supreme Court case. And I'm not a lawyer. I'm a pediatrician. So I'll use my understanding.

Around 1977, there was a student, James Ingraham, who had corporal punishment inflicted on his body more than 20 times and resulted in the need for medical treatment. And so this was brought to the Supreme Court essentially under the Eighth Amendment for cruel and unusual punishment. But the court decided that because children are not criminals or prisoners that it doesn't apply. 

And so they left the matter to the states, for the states to decide on this issue, and really feel like it's a somewhat private and family-based issue too and that it should be decided at the state level. So the reason it can't just be banned outright is that it is at the level of the states. And then I think some of the other reasons is it's not happening in every state.

So if the rates are reported as zero, does the ban really need to get put in place? And you can sort of look at this map from the Civil Rights Data Collection. You can see the rates are higher along in the South. And so there are certain states where there's more of the cases are happening than in others. There are some great examples.

Colorado, for instance, in 2023 has now banned it. I don't think they had any reported cases in 2017 or 2020. But it is now illegal. So it took two representatives bringing it to the state to pass it.

JILL ANDERSON: But in some states, it is still happening in the past six months or so. And we see cases that have made the news, where you have high school students being given the opportunity to choose whether they get hit or get suspended. And you have a bunch of other cases. So it's definitely still happening in some places. What are the barriers that are keeping it banned?

JAIME PETERSON: I think that's such a good question. I think it really is probably nuanced. But what you can see in the data and the literature is that in places where parents may use corporal punishment, it may be more accepted. So as pediatricians, we don't recommend corporal punishment. We know it's not an effective form of discipline. Spanking and hitting a child might help a behavior in the short term.  They might be fearful and obedient. But in the long term it has a lot of negative consequences. But if it's how you discipline your child at home, parents are often teachers, and school personnel, and school board members that that's a practice in their community at home that seems acceptable. It may be hard to change it. I mean, other barriers is awareness. This is an opportunity for people to realize it's happening.

That's why we wrote the policy statement again, so that you could have some movement. Just because it's allowed in your state, doesn't mean everyone agrees with it. And I think Mississippi is a great example. They tend to have the highest rates in the past. And they also in July I think of 2019 passed a ban on the use of corporal punishment against any child with a known IEP, so individualized education plan, or 504 plan.

And I think it's really interesting to look at the data from 2017 to 2020, with the COVID caveat, so I think we need to keep an eye on things, that their numbers of all children, not just the children with disabilities, went down who experienced corporal punishment, like a marked decrease.

JILL ANDERSON: So does that mean that something is breaking through or the culture is changing in some way? Is that what we can suspect from that data? Or is it still too soon to say?

JAIME PETERSON: It would be great to hear from their local leaders because I don't know. I think culture is really hard to change. I think if you put a ban in place and people get nervous and follow it, but if you don't come in with alternative parent practices for discipline and support teachers with an alternative, then is that going to be sustained?

JILL ANDERSON: You mentioned there can be long-term negative effects from this type of punishment and discipline. Can you just expand on that? What is the dangers of using this type of discipline in school?

JAIME PETERSON: We know from decades of research that it's not effective in the short term or the long term with educational implications, more likely to have behavioral and mental health issues as they get older, more likely to be violent themselves if they were disciplined with violence. And so you can extend that into the school setting.

So now instead of that data is based on parents, but someone else, another trusted adult using the same form of punishment is tied to the same consequences. And so a lot of the studies we have are across different countries, where they've looked at when you stop it, what happens? Less fighting, better grade point averages, better self-esteem, better relationships with teachers, the same implications as within a family within the school setting.

JILL ANDERSON: People seem very protective in a way of this as a reasonable form of discipline.

JAIME PETERSON: Yeah, I mean, I feel like as a pediatrician I hear that with families. My job as a pediatrician is to help their child grow, and develop, and navigate all of the different stages, toddler tantrums to teenagers, and really help them find the tools to do their very best. It's really hard for parents. They tell me. This is how I was raised. Isn't this the way I'm supposed to do it? And you often look to who raised you.

And so it really takes support from other people to change those patterns and behaviors and to be encouraged to do something different than what's being done in your home, or in your community, or in your family structure.

JILL ANDERSON: Can you talk about how this type of punishment affects specific populations of students?

JAIME PETERSON: What we know is that children who identify as Black are more likely to experience corporal punishment. So they disproportionately represent the number of children who are struck in a school. So they represent, I think, close to 15% of the US student population. But depending on the year, they're in the 30s, somewhere in those 30 percentiles of the number of children receiving corporal punishment. So if you are a Black male identifying child, you're twice as likely to be struck in a school setting. And if you are a Black female, you're twice as likely compared to a white female. And if you're a child with a disability, those rates are higher as well. And then you can imagine intersectionality. What if you're a Black male with a learning disability or a developmental disability? Then you are even more likely to experience it.

JILL ANDERSON: Sounds like we know a lot about how this type of discipline affects kids who've grown up in these environments, where they're beaten or hit. Do we know anything about how this behavior impacts students later in life?

JAIME PETERSON: Yes. And a lot of those same concerns continue with mental health issues, educational outcomes, challenging relationships ongoing with parents and other children. I think often we think about the school to prison pipeline. You can't directly connect it. But a lot of the same impacts. 

So if you're less likely to feel engaged in school, and you're not doing as well, and you don't feel safe, and you're already struggling, even children without disabilities, it's going to have an impact on high school graduation and future educational attainment. And a lot of the studies we reference in the policy statement are sort of these ecological studies of what children report who have had corporal punishment, how they have felt it impacted them because you can't randomly control it.

Our gold standard is a randomized controlled trial. We're not going to randomly control children who receive corporal punishment and those who do not because that would be unethical.

JILL ANDERSON: What would you say is a better form of discipline to use in schools?

JAIME PETERSON: So there are a lot of other evidence-based programs that are better. And I think educators are going to be the people who know the best. As a pediatrician we can sort of cite what we know. But positive discipline models where you have trauma-informed practices, positive behavior interventions and supports, where a behavior that is problematic is approached with an intervention rather than with corporal punishment.

So when that behavior is not present, they receive — you can imagine as your educators a sticker chart, or they meet with a counselor and they get a prize, or they're earning bucks, school dollars to turn it in at the end of the week. Where the behavior is identified, there's an intervention in place and supports. Access to counseling and therapy services within schools.

So if there are other things contributing, so that the behaviors that are causing concerns in the school, we're addressing those as well. And at the same time as you're adopting a new practice, making sure that teachers are getting the support, and school staff and personnel are getting the support to be positive role models. What does it look like to do an alternative discipline practice, so that kids can see that shift happening, that school culture can change, and trust can be rebuilt over time?

Saying that it's not allowed isn't going to change a school culture entirely. We don't know what other forms of discipline will come in. I think really in the simplest forms when I talk with families, I remind them that our goal is no pain — so that's corporal punishment-- no shame, and no blame when we discipline children. No pain, no shame, no blame.

And so you can take away the pain portion, the corporal punishment portion. But you have to make sure it's not being replaced with shame and blame in those settings and that staff have the tools to do things differently, and the support of parents and community.

JILL ANDERSON: When I was looking and doing some research for this conversation about when this is happening, a lot of times it's happening for what are considered minor infractions. I mean, talking back, or not listening, or things that are not what you would maybe consider major infractions.

JAIME PETERSON: Yeah, I think we often think of behavior as communication. What is the reason behind the behavior? So why are they talking back? What's going on in this situation? And who has a relationship to connect with that child, after class, in between class? If it's really not bothersome, it's not going to cause anyone any harm, does it need to be dealt with in that exact moment and with that form of punishment? What are the alternatives?

JILL ANDERSON: You mentioned that a ban isn't necessarily what is going to change the culture of a school. But I'm wondering, what can be done to actually get this to the point, where it is outlawed in these remaining states?

JAIME PETERSON: I think the first step is a ban. The first step is to mobilize parents, and school board members, and legislators. Talk to your representatives and your senators and say, this is a thing that you may not be aware of. We need to petition for this to end. It's the recommendation of many, many groups, educational groups, health groups, psychology groups. 

You could probably cite all of the different collective bodies that support families and children that do not think this should continue. And you start there. And then I think there's sort of grassroots and coalition building to think about, how do you make sure that is implemented well? And that's going to need to take cultural and local contexts into account.

If you're in a state where the rates are zero, get the ban passed so that you're a model for other states. And you apply some pressure. It's not going to come down unless there's a new Supreme Court case brought. But right now, I think states have a lot of power. And I think parents, and teachers, and school districts, and leaders in the states have an opportunity right now.

I think the simplest thing to say is children can't learn when they don't feel safe. We want every child to have an enriching, supportive learning environment and home environment. And when there are other needs, health, or educational, or family, or structural barriers, we need to address those. But this one, this one to me is a no brainer. And I think if you're a parent listening, where do you want your child to be? And when they make a mistake, how do you want them to be responded to?

JILL ANDERSON: Jaime Peterson is a pediatrician and assistant professor at Oregon Health and Science University. I'm Jill Anderson. This is the Harvard EdCast produced by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Thanks for listening. 

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Ending corporal punishment in schools to transform education for all children

Corporal punishment, or violent forms of discipline, is a common practice at schools in many countries, administered by teachers and other staff. Evidence has revealed that this violence has no positive benefits, and is in fact a hindrance to learning – negatively impacting children’s cognitive development, contributing to lower academic achievement, and school dropout. This also carries the risk of long-term harm to mental and physical health and future prospects of individuals, families and societies. This report, released by End Violence in partnership with Safe to Learn and the Coalition for Good Schools, explores children’s experiences of school corporal punishment, identifying where action is needed, and describing how progress can be achieved.

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Ending corporal punishment in schools to transform education for all children, schools are meant to be transformative spaces for children to learn and develop..

Schools are meant to be transformative spaces for children to learn and develop. But sadly, vast numbers of children around the world are subjected to violence in education settings, particularly as a disciplinary method. 

Corporal punishment, or violent forms of discipline, is a common practice at schools in many countries, administered by teachers and other staff. Evidence has revealed that this violence has no positive benefits, and is in fact a hindrance to learning – negatively impacting children’s cognitive development, contributing to lower academic achievement, and school dropout. This also carries the risk of long-term harm to mental and physical health and future prospects of individuals, families and societies. 

A new landmark report on school corporal punishment has been released by End Violence in partnership with Safe to Learn and the Coalition for Good Schools. The report explores children’s experiences of school corporal punishment, identifying where action is needed, and describing how progress can be achieved. 

THE SCALE OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS

School corporal punishment is still lawful in 63 states worldwide – comprising approximately 793 million children or half of the global school-age population. 

The report highlights the many factors and dynamics that influence the prevalence of corporal punishment. 

It finds that the practice has been  prevalent across regions . For example, an analysis of research studies between 1980 and 2017 found that 70 percent of children in Africa and Central America had experienced corporal punishment in schools at least once in their lives. 

Corporal punishment is  influenced by gender . Most studies find that boys are more likely to be subjected to school corporal punishment, with male teachers tending to be more violent toward male students. For girls, violent punishment may be used to control behaviour and encourage timidity. LGBTQI students have consistently reported a higher prevalence of violence and bullying in schools. 

Education is of particular importance to marginalised and disadvantaged children, but corporal punishment is often  more prevalent in low-resource settings and schools, harming the education prospects of the children who need it most . Children with disabilities, refugees, migrant and racially marginalised children are also disproportionately subjected to violent punishment in school.

Safe schools can provide a protective barrier for continued learning despite a difficult external context such as a humanitarian crisis, giving children access to the knowledge that can lead to increased empowerment and better future opportunities. But sadly, violence reverses these possibilities. 

Research has found an  association between experiencing violent punishment in childhood with aggression, anti-social behaviour, perpetration of physical assault and criminality in adulthood . Children subject to corporal punishment in childhood are more likely to use it on their children when they become parents, creating cycles of inter-generational violence.

And this comes at a great cost to society. The World Bank and Safe to Learn investment case reported that  the cost of inaction on school violence including corporal punishment amounts to around $11 trillion globally in lost lifetime earnings . Its prevalence combined with its harmful impacts mean that investments in the vital benefits of education for children and societies do not always generate the best possible returns. 

LEGAL REFORM AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION 

The report stresses the importance of effectively implementing law reform. Prohibiting corporal punishment by law sends the clearest message that violent punishment of children is no longer acceptable in society. And legal reform is effective. Many countries with previously high levels of violent punishment in school have now ended or are close to ending the practice, helping transform attitudes to violence against children at scale. 

Alongside laws banning violent punishment in schools, it is also key to put prohibition into practice. Based on evidence and existing solutions, the report draws out best practices to implement law reform, including:

• creating awareness of the law, 
• adopting ‘whole school’ interventions that engage all stakeholders, from teachers to parents to address the issue 
• adopting positive discipline methods and 
• engaging adults and children to challenge harmful norms. 

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Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: Prevalence, Disparities in Use, and Status in State and Federal Policy

Elizabeth t. gershoff.

University of Texas at Austin

Sarah A. Font

Pennsylvania State University

School corporal punishment is currently legal in 19 states, and over 160,000 children in these states are subject to corporal punishment in schools each year. Given that the use of school corporal punishment is heavily concentrated in Southern states, and that the federal government has not included corporal punishment in its recent initiatives about improving school discipline, public knowledge of this issue is limited. The aim of this policy report is to fill the gap in knowledge about school corporal punishment by describing the prevalence and geographic dispersion of corporal punishment in U.S. public schools and by assessing the extent to which schools disproportionately apply corporal punishment to children who are Black, to boys, and to children with disabilities. This policy report is the first-ever effort to describe the prevalence of and disparities in the use of school corporal punishment at the school and school-district levels. We end the report by summarizing sources of concern about school corporal punishment, reviewing state policies related to school corporal punishment, and discussing the future of school corporal punishment in state and federal policy.

In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its Ingraham v. Wright decision that school corporal punishment is constitutional, leaving states to decide whether to allow it. Nineteen U.S. states currently allow public school personnel to use corporal punishment to discipline children from the time they start preschool until they graduate 12 th grade; these states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming ( Center for Effective Discipline, 2015 ). A total of 163,333 1 children were subject to corporal punishment in these states’ public schools during the 2011–2012 school year.

Corporal punishment is defined as the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain so as to correct their misbehavior ( Straus, 2001 ); it is synonymous with physical punishment, but we will use the term “corporal punishment” in this report because it is the term used by school districts in the U.S. Although corporal punishment by parents tends to take the form of spanking a child’s buttocks with an open hand ( Zolotor, Theodore, Chang, Berkoff, & Runyan, 2008 ), in schools, a teacher or administrator typically administers corporal punishment by using a large wooden board or “paddle” to strike the buttocks of a child. A typical state definition of school corporal punishment is the one offered in the Texas Education Code, which specifies permissible corporal punishment as, “…the deliberate infliction of physical pain by hitting, paddling, spanking, slapping, or any other physical force used as a means of discipline.” ( Texas Education Code, 2013 )

The Texas code thus allows school personnel to hit children with objects (“paddling”) and to use “any other physical force” to control children, as long as it is in the name of discipline.

Some school districts specify the exact dimensions of the paddles to be used for discipline. For example, the Board of Education in Pickens County, Alabama, recommends that schools use a “wooden paddle approximately 24 inches in length, 3 inches wide and ½ inch thick” that does not have holes, cracks, splinters, tape, or other foreign material ( Pickens County Board of Education, 2015 , p. 27). Most corporal punishment involves elementary school students ( North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015 ), and given that elementary school children range in average height from 43 inches at age 5 to 55 inches at age 10 ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000 ), a 2-ft-long paddle can be half as tall as the children being paddled. In any other context, the act of an adult hitting another person with a board of this size (or really, of any size) would be considered assault with a weapon and would be punishable under criminal law ( Bitensky, 2006 ).

Schoolchildren are disciplined with corporal punishment for a range of behaviors. Interviews with corporally punished students make clear that some of the precipitating incidents are quite serious, such as fighting with fellow students, setting off fireworks in school, or getting drunk on a field trip ( Human Rights Watch & the ACLU, 2008 ). In North Carolina, 63% of the cases of corporal punishment in the 2013–2014 school year were for disruptive behavior, fighting, aggression, disorderly conduct, or bullying, while the remaining 37% were for bus misbehavior, disrespect of staff, cell phone use, inappropriate language, and other misbehaviors ( North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015 ).

Evidence from other states further indicates that not all misbehaviors that elicit corporal punishment are serious. Children have been corporally punished in school for being late to class, failing to turn in homework, violating dress codes, running in the hallway, laughing in the hallway, sleeping in class, talking back to teachers, going to the bathroom without permission, mispronouncing words, and receiving bad grades ( Human Rights Watch & the ACLU, 2008 ; Mitchell, 2010 ). A review of over 6,000 disciplinary files in a central Florida school district for the 1987–1988 school year found that whether corporal punishment was used was not related to the severity of the student’s misbehavior or to how frequently they had been referred for a rule violation ( Shaw & Braden, 1990 ). This study suggests that school corporal punishment is not necessarily used as a “last resort” for frequently misbehaving students or only for serious infractions.

The prevalence of school corporal punishment has been on a steady decline since the late 1970s, decreasing from 4% of all schoolchildren in 1978 to less than 0.5% today ( Gershoff, Purtell, & Holas, 2015 ). This decline occurred in large part because 25 states banned corporal punishment from public schools between 1974 and 1994. Yet this pattern of state policy change stagnated in the 20 years since 1994, during which time only 5 additional states passed bans on school corporal punishment, bringing the total number of states with bans to 31 plus the District of Columbia (see Table 1 ). The states that continue to allow corporal punishment have a greater percentage of children in the general population, higher rates of child poverty and child mortality, lower college graduation rates, and lower per-pupil education expenditures than states that have banned school corporal punishment ( Gershoff et al., 2015 ).

List of the states that have banned corporal punishment in public schools in chronological order

Source: Center for Effective Discipline (2015).

School corporal punishment has received scant attention from the federal government. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice issued a widely publicized joint report, entitled Nondiscriminatory Administration of School Discipline , that summarized racial disparities in suspensions and expulsions; no data were presented on corporal punishment, and the only mention of corporal punishment was a brief remark that it has the potential to be used in a discriminatory fashion ( U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 2014 ). In an accompanying guiding principles document issued by the U.S. Department of Education (2014) , corporal punishment was not mentioned a single time. Corporal punishment was also not mentioned in a report released by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the U.S. Department of Education specifically on disparities in school discipline by race, gender, and disability status in the 2011–2012 school year ( U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 2014a ). Nor was corporal punishment mentioned in the most recent annual report OCR submitted to the President and the Secretary of Education ( U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 2015a ). This lack of information about and attention to school corporal punishment is surprising given that OCR has regularly collected data about corporal punishment in public schools for over 30 years in service of its mission to enforce civil rights in public education.

The aim of this policy report is to fill the gap in knowledge about school corporal punishment by describing the prevalence and geographic dispersion of corporal punishment in U.S. public schools and by assessing the extent to which schools disproportionately apply corporal punishment to boys, to Black children, and to children with disabilities. These facts are already known for suspensions, expulsions, and physical restraints, all of which have been included in OCR’s recent reports (2015a, 2014a). School-district-level racial disparities in suspensions and expulsions in the 2011–2012 OCR data were recently highlighted in a report from the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education ( Smith & Harper, 2015 ). While two studies to date have examined the prevalence and predictors of school corporal punishment at the state level using OCR national data from representative samples of schools ( Gershoff et al., 2015 ; Owen & Wagner, 2006 ), this policy report is the first-ever effort to describe prevalence of and disparities in the use of school corporal punishment at the school and school-district levels using a universal dataset of all U.S. public schools. We end the report by summarizing sources of concern about school corporal punishment and the future of public policies related to the practice, reviewing state policies related to school corporal punishment, and discussing the future of school corporal punishment in state and federal policy.

We note at the outset that corporal punishment is also legal in private schools in 48 states; the only exceptions are Iowa and New Jersey ( Bitensky, 2006 ). Because OCR does not collect discipline data from private schools and because federal and state laws have more jurisdiction over public schools, this report focuses only on public schools.

Prevalence of School Corporal Punishment in the 2011–2012 School Year

The little that is known about corporal punishment in U.S. public schools comes from data collected periodically by OCR. The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), previously called the Elementary and Secondary School Survey, is collected every few years by OCR in compliance with Section 203(c)(1) of the Department of Education Organization Act of 1979. All schools and districts that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education are required to comply with requests for OCR survey data under several federal regulations ( 34 C.F. R.§ 100.6(b), 106.71, and 104.61, 2000 ; U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 2015b ). Data presented in this report are from the CRDC for the school year 2011–2012, which was a universal survey of all 95,088 U.S. public schools completed by school administrators ( U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 2014b ). The data are not publicly available but are available upon request from OCR. We focused on schools in the 19 states that allow corporal punishment ( N = 38,775 schools), but then excluded schools that were contained within hospitals, juvenile detention centers, prisons, or treatment centers, as well as adult education schools and online programs. In our analyses aggregated at the state level, we report data for a total of 37,624 schools from 5,461 districts. Our district-level analyses exclude the majority of charter schools as well as some specialized schools that were assigned “district identification numbers” by OCR despite the fact that they do not function as complete school district. 2 Thus, the district-level analyses focused on 4,460 school districts representing 36,942 schools.

To depict the geographic dispersion of corporal punishment use, prevalence, and disparities, we merged OCR data with school district and state boundaries using ArcGIS software (version 10.2.2; Esri, 2015 ). This software allowed us to map the use of corporal punishment aggregated to either the district or state level.

State-Level Prevalence of School Corporal Punishment

Even when corporal punishment is legally permitted in a state, school district superintendents and individual school principals within districts can decide whether to use corporal punishment as a form of discipline. Table 2 presents the percentage of schools in each state that reported using corporal punishment on at least one child; these rates are then mapped in Figure 1 . States that legally permit school corporal punishment are largely clustered in the southeastern United States. As is clear from both the table and figure, the nexus of school corporal punishment is located in the contiguous states of Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi, with more than half of schools in each state using corporal punishment. The percentage of schools using corporal punishment progressively decreases among the states that radiate out from this nexus. In 9 states (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Wyoming), corporal punishment is nearly eliminated, with less than 5% of schools reporting any use of it.

Legality of corporal punishment and percentage of public schools reporting any corporal punishment by state

Percentage of schools reporting corporal punishment, and percentage of children attending schools using corporal punishment, by state in the 2011–2012 school year

Data source: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (2014b).

In a given state, the percentage of schools that use corporal punishment tells us little about the proportion of students potentially affected by it. It could be the case that corporal punishment is isolated in districts with fewer students, with the result that few students are actually at risk of receiving corporal punishment. To examine this issue, we calculated the proportion of all students in a state who attended a school that used corporal punishment; these values are also presented in Table 2 . Overall, 12% of students in these 19 states (1 in 8) attend a school that uses corporal punishment. However, there is substantial between-state variation. Around half of all students in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi attend schools that use corporal punishment, whereas in 9 of the 19 states, less than 4% of students attend a school that uses corporal punishment. In comparing the two columns in Table 2 , the percentage of schools using corporal punishment and the percentage of children attending schools using corporal punishment are roughly equal in most states. However, for Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Georgia, the proportion of schools using corporal punishment exceeds the proportion of students who attend those schools by more than two percentage points, indicating that, on average, schools using corporal punishment in these states serve fewer students than schools that do not use it.

District-Level Prevalence of School Corporal Punishment

Given the between-state differences in prevalence of school corporal punishment, it is important to examine the within-state variation to determine whether corporal punishment usage and prevalence is clustered in particular areas of these states. Figure 2 presents prevalence of corporal punishment at the district level. Each district is coded according to the highest school-level rate of corporal punishment in that district, or the percentage of all enrolled students who were corporally punished at least once. Overall, more districts in the 19 states in which corporal punishment is legal did not use corporal punishment in the 2011–2012 school year than did: 59% of districts in these states did not report using any corporal punishment (colored blue in Figure 2 ).

Use of corporal punishment by school district (maximum percentage of students corporally punished at a district school)

Of the eight states that have the most widespread use of corporal punishment (see Table 2 ), Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, and Georgia each have only a small percentage of districts that corporally punish more than 25% of its students (indicated with red or dark-red in Figure 2 ; Oklahoma: 6.0%; Tennessee: 4.4%; Louisiana: 1.5%; Texas: 4.5%; and Georgia: 6.2%). These districts are geographically scattered around each state, indicating that frequent use of school corporal punishment in these states has largely been eliminated in these states.

Around half of all students in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi attend schools that use corporal punishment.

Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi are a different story, however: 22.1% of districts in Alabama, 15.2% in Arkansas, and 35.7% in Mississippi have at least one school using corporal punishment to discipline more than a quarter of its students in the 2011–2012 school year (red and dark-red in Figure 2 ). This suggests that corporal punishment is still frequently used in a sizable percentage of the districts in these three states. There is also less geographic dispersion than there is in the five states reviewed above, with the vast majority of districts reporting occurrences of corporal punishment of children; as displayed in Figure 2 , 86% of school districts in Alabama, 88% in Arkansas, and 85% in Mississippi use corporal punishment. The fact that corporal punishment is more common in these states at the district level than at the school level (see from Table 2 : Alabama: 51%, Arkansas: 53%, Mississippi: 57%) indicates within-district variability; not all schools within a district are using corporal punishment, but in almost every district, at least one school is.

Figure 2 is yet another illustration that school districts generally appear to be phasing out corporal punishment— except those in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi, where its use remains widespread.

Child-Level Prevalence of School Corporal Punishment

Table 3 presents the number of children attending public schools in each state where corporal punishment is legal that were subjected to corporal punishment in the 2011–2012 school year, with the total number coming to 163,333 students. It is important to note that the OCR data track the number of children, not the instances of discipline; multiple instances of corporal punishment of the same child are not represented in the data. Thus, this total is likely an underestimate of the number of instances of corporal punishment in the United States that year.

Number and percentage of students within each state that actually received corporal punishment in the 2011–2012 school year

Mississippi schools corporally punish the greatest proportion of their children, 7% of all students, and the largest total number of children, 32,157. Consistent with the state-level pattern seen above, Alabama and Arkansas have the next highest prevalence rates, at 4% each. Texas corporally punishes the second largest number of children, 29,835, but because of its larger student population, this amounts to less than 1% of children in its public schools. In total, 14 of the 19 states that still allow corporal punishment use it on less than 1% of their children in a given year.

Summary of Prevalence Data

Corporal punishment is permitted in 19 states, but it is much more pervasive across schools in some states, particularly Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi, where half of all students attend schools that use corporal punishment. Mississippi has the highest proportion of children experiencing school corporal punishment, where 1 in every 14 children is subject to corporal punishment in a single school year.

Disparities in Prevalence of School Corporal Punishment

The CRDC survey asked school administrators to report how many children received corporal punishment during the 2011–2012 school year by race or ethnicity, gender, and disability status. To examine disparities by race, we computed a ratio of the proportion of Black students who were corporally punished to the proportion of White students who were. We were not able to calculate ratios for other racial and ethnic groups because of insufficient subgroup sizes. To ensure that we were only including schools that used corporal punishment as a regular form of school discipline, we considered that a school used corporal punishment if the administrator reported corporal punishment of 10 or more students in that school year. The disparity ratio for gender was calculated as the proportion of boys who were subject to corporal punishment divided by the proportion of girls who were, while the disparity ratio for disability status was calculated as the proportion of disabled students who were corporally punished over the proportion of nondisabled students who were. Disparity ratios were not calculated for schools that lacked adequate representation (at least 15 students) in either of the groups being compared. Because 1% or less of children in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Kansas were corporally punished, we have excluded them from the disparities analyses below.

There were a few schools for which a ratio could not be calculated because either the numerator or denominator was 0; in other words, despite having both groups represented at the school, only members of one group received corporal punishment. In those instances, we assigned the top-coded disparity measure (i.e., 10) if only students in the numerator group (Black students, boys, or students with disabilities) were corporally punished, and 0 if only students in the denominator group were corporally punished. Using these methods, we were able to calculate disparity measures by race for 1,942 schools (from 709 districts), by gender for 3,231 schools (from 1,242 districts), and by disability status for 3,050 schools (from 1,189 districts).

As not all schools in a district used corporal punishment, we coded each district with the value of the school within it that had the highest disparity ratio for race, gender, or disability, and displayed these ratios in district-level maps in Figures 3 through ​ through5. 5 . Each ratio reflects the increased probability of a child in one group (Black, male, or a student with a disability) experiencing corporal punishment as compared to a child in the comparison group (White, female, or a student without a disability). We categorized the disparities into 5 groups: (1) equal or lower rates of corporal punishment in the numerator group; (2) 1% to 50% more likely; (3) 51% to 300% more likely; (4) 310% to 500% more likely; and (5) over 500% more likely.

Disparity ratios (DRs) for the use of school corporal punishment by students’ race, at the district level

Disparity ratios (DRs) for the use of school corporal punishment by students’ disability status, at the district level

Note: This map excludes 5 states where school corporal punishment is legal (AZ, CO, ID, KS, WY) but which had very low rates of use. For the 14 states shown: n = 3,640 districts; 1,234 districts had at least one school that used corporal punishment on 10 or more students. Of those, 53 did not have a school with adequate representation of students with and without disabilities. Disparity ratios calculated for 1,181 school districts. Ratios higher than 1 indicate that students with disabilities were more likely to be corporally punished than students without disabilities.

Disparities by Race

Racial disparities in use of school corporal punishment by district are presented in Figure 3 . The figure includes a table of the percentage of districts that fall into each category of disparity ratios, as well as a map of districts coded according to the highest ratio reported for a school in that district. Both the table and the figure reveal that racial disparities in school corporal punishment are widespread, with disparities largest in Alabama and Mississippi.

Black children in Alabama and Mississippi are at least 51% more likely to be corporally punished than White children in over half of school districts, while in one fifth of both states’ districts, Black children are over 5 times (500%) more likely to be corporally punished. Disparities for Black children are also high in several other southeastern states—17% in Arkansas, 20% in Florida, 26% in Georgia, 28% in Louisiana, and 18% in Tennessee (i.e., the two red columns in Figure 3 taken together)—meaning they were more than 3 times as likely to receive corporal punishment in school as White children.

These racial disparities in school corporal punishment at the district level led us to consider whether the racial disparity in corporal punishment reflects a greater likelihood of Black children to attend schools that use corporal punishment. Table 4 compares the percentage of Black and White children attending schools that use corporal punishment by state. Though there is a racial difference, it is the opposite of what one might expect: White children are generally more likely than Black children to attend a school that uses corporal punishment. This is particularly true in Kentucky, where Whites are 7 times more likely to attend a school that uses corporal punishment than Blacks, as well as in Oklahoma (3 times more likely), Florida (2.5 times more likely), Missouri (2.2 times more likely), and Tennessee (2 times more likely). Thus, racial disparities in corporal punishment cannot be explained by Black children being more likely to attend schools that use corporal punishment.

Percentage of Black and White children in each state who attended a school that used corporal punishment in the 2011–2012 school year

We next considered whether racial disparities are more likely to occur when Black students are in the minority at a school. We identified schools as having either a majority of Black students (51% or more) or a majority of non-Black students. Somewhat surprisingly, the rates of Black students being corporally punished were equal: 12% of Black students were subjected to corporal punishment at either majority Black schools or majority non-Black schools. The rate of corporal punishment for White students was also nearly the same, at 8% for majority Black schools and 7% at majority non-Black schools. Therefore, it does not appear that Black students are singled out more for corporal punishment when they are in the minority; they are more likely than White students to receive corporal punishment regardless of whether the schools are majority Black or majority non-Black.

These data make clear that racial disparities in school corporal punishment are widespread. Black children are at a much greater risk of being subject to corporal punishment than White children in districts where it is being used. From the universal dataset of public schools that we examined, our findings are consistent with analyses from previous years of OCR data on a sampling of schools ( Human Rights Watch & the ACLU, 2008 , 2009 ). Analyses of national racial-disparity ratios across time have found that they are nearly the same now as they were in 1976, when these data were first collected ( Gershoff et al., 2015 ).

Racial disparities in school corporal punishment are similar to those found for suspensions and expulsions, such that Black children receive all forms of school discipline at a higher rate than their White peers ( American Psychological Association [APA] Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008 ). Research has largely concluded that disparities in suspensions and expulsions are not explained by differences in misbehavior; rather, Black children are disciplined more severely than their non-Black peers for the same misbehaviors ( APA Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008 ; Kinsler, 2011 ; Smith & Harper, 2015 ). Few studies have investigated the source of racial disparities in school corporal punishment. An analysis of one Florida school district found that Black children were more likely than other children to receive corporal punishment despite committing a smaller proportion of severe offenses ( McFadden, Marsh, Price, & Hwang, 1992 ). In another Florida district, Black children were significantly more likely to receive corporal punishment than non-Black children even after accounting for the severity and frequency of misbehavior ( Shaw & Braden, 1990 ).

Disparities by Gender

Disparities in school corporal punishment by gender are displayed in Figure 4 . Once again, the states of Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi stand out from the rest. In these states, boys are substantially more likely to be corporally punished than girls in more than three quarters of the school districts (78% of districts in Mississippi, 75% in Arkansas, and 74% in Alabama). Disparities by gender are quite dramatic. As seen in the last column of the inset table in Figure 4 , when disparities are present they are more likely to be at the level of boys being 5 or more times as likely as girls to be subject to school corporal punishment. Two thirds of districts in Alabama and nearly half of districts in Arkansas have at least 1 school that corporally punishes boys more than 5 times the rate for girls. In 21% to 42% of districts in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas, at least one school uses corporal punishment with 5 times as many boys as girls.

Disparity ratios (DRs) for the use of school corporal punishment by students’ gender, at the district level

The map in Figure 4 clearly shows the prevalence of gender disparities in school corporal punishment. The majority of school districts for which a ratio could be calculated are red or dark-red, indicating gender disparities exceeding 3.0 (i.e., boys being 3 times as likely as girls to be corporally punished). Only a few districts have no disparities, as indicated by the color yellow. Thus, it appears that if school corporal punishment is used in a district, it is being used in an unequal fashion, with boys much more likely than girls to be subject to school corporal punishment.

These results are consistent with previous analyses of within-state use of corporal punishment. In the early 1990s, a review of several thousand cases in Florida found that 82% of students who received corporal punishment were male ( McFadden et al., 1992 ). A review of school corporal punishment in North Carolina found the same result 20 years later: 83% of those receiving corporal punishment were boys ( North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015 ). Boys account for roughly 50% of the student population in both states. Differences in rates of misbehavior can explain some but not all of the differences in corporal punishment administered to boys versus girls. Although boys have been found to be twice as likely as girls to be referred to the school office for discipline for a range of misbehaviors ( Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2002 ), they are not twice as likely to be corporally punished, but rather four times as likely. It is clear that boys are grossly overrepresented among students who receive corporal punishment.

Disparities by Disability Status

Figure 5 presents the data on disparities by disability status, whether physical, cognitive, or emotional; disability was defined as students who qualified as having a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] (1990) or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (1973) . States with low overall rates of corporal punishment have the fewest number of districts with disability disparities (Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, and South Carolina). Disparities are common in the other 15 states. Children with disabilities are over 50% more likely to experience school corporal punishment than their peers without disabilities in 67% of school districts in Alabama, 44% in Arkansas, 34% in Georgia, 35% in Louisiana, 46% in Mississippi, and 36% in Tennessee. Some districts have particularly high rates of disparity by disability status: In 12% of districts in Alabama, 9% in Mississippi, and 8% in Tennessee, children with disabilities are over 5 times more likely to experience corporal punishment than children without disabilities.

The finding that students with disabilities are at greater risk for corporal punishment than students without disabilities is troubling for two reasons. First, the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] (1990) provides a legal precedent for children with disabilities to receive more support and assistance than children without disabilities. Given that children with disabilities are often more, rather than less, likely to experience corporal punishment than their peers without disabilities, this suggests that school staff are often responding to their challenging behaviors with harsh, rather than positive, disciplinary methods.

Second, a report from Human Rights Watch and the ACLU (2009) found that administrators sometimes administer corporal punishment to children with disabilities for behaviors that stem from their disability, such as those endemic to autism, Tourette syndrome, or obsessive compulsive disorder. It is worth noting that schools do have the legal right to use corporal punishment on students with disabilities; judges have upheld this right, even when the punishment results in a child needing psychiatric hospitalization ( Lohrmann-O’Rourke & Zirkel, 1998 ). That said, punishing children for symptoms of their disabilities is unlawful under IDEA.

The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Disability Status

The sections above highlighted the clear disparities in school corporal punishment by a student’s race, gender, or disability status alone. Of course, every student has a race, gender, or disability status and thus we were curious if the risk for corporal punishment was additive across the intersection of these student characteristics. We predicted that Black boys with disabilities would have the highest rates of school corporal punishment; we examined the data to determine if this was in fact true.

Table 5 presents the percent of children who received corporal punishment across the three student characteristics. Black boys have the highest overall rate of school corporal punishment at 16%, followed by White boys at 9%. Black boys are 1.8 times as likely as White boys to be corporally punished, while Black girls are 3 times as likely as White girls to be corporally punished. For both Black and White boys, students with and without disabilities are as likely to experience corporal punishment, whereas for both Black and White girls, those with disabilities are slightly more likely to experience corporal punishment than their peers without disabilities. Contrary to our prediction, however, Black boys with disabilities are not corporally punished at the highest rate, suggesting that being Black, being a boy, and having a disability each confer some unique but some shared risk of experiencing school corporal punishment. One source of shared risk is the fact that Black students are more likely to be identified as having disabilities such as emotional disturbance, intellectual disability, and specific learning disability than are non-Black children ( Losen, Hodson, Ee, & Martinez, 2014 ). The greater likelihood for Black children to be identified as having a disability than non-Black children may explain why the rates in Table 5 are more distinguished by race than by disability status.

Percentage of students corporally punished by race, gender and disability status among schools that use corporal punishment

Summary of Disparities Data

This report is the first to examine school-level disparities in corporal punishment for all public schools in the states where it is legal. The data make clear that where school corporal punishment continues to be used, it is typically used disproportionately, with some subgroups of children more likely to be corporally punished than others. These disparities in school corporal punishment are concerning for several reasons. First, the systematic differential treatment of some subgroups would appear to be in violation of three federal laws that afford protections to children in the public education system, namely protection from discrimination by race, color, or national origin under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, protection from discrimination based on gender under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and protection from discrimination as a result of a disability under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ( U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 2015b ). Second, children are likely to perceive that they are being discriminated against as targets for corporal punishment at greater rates than their peers; such perceived discrimination has been linked in a recent meta-analysis with lower self-esteem, lower positive mood, higher depression, and higher anxiety—and more so for children than adults ( Schmitt, Branscombe, Postmes, & Garcia, 2014 ). Perceived racial discrimination has also been linked with low academic engagement and with more negative school behaviors ( Smalls, White, Chavous, & Sellers, 2007 ), which may in turn lead to exacerbation of discipline disparities.

Disparities in school discipline have received some recent attention. The U.S. Department of Education has urged schools to ensure discipline is administered in a manner that is “without regard to a student’s personal characteristics, including race, color, national origin, religion, disability, ethnicity, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or status as an English language learner, migrant, or homeless student” ( U.S. Department of Education, 2014 , p. 14). A report from the Council of State Governments Justice Center pointed to the need for better monitoring of discipline across race, gender, and disability status subgroups ( Morgan, Salomon, Plotkin, & Cohen, 2014 ). The Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative issued two briefs calling for policy and practice initiatives to reduce disparities in school discipline ( Gregory, Bell, & Pollock, 2014 ; Losen, Hewitt, & Toldson, 2014 ). All of these recent reports were focused on disparities in suspensions, expulsions, and physical restraints; not one mentioned disparities in corporal punishment. As long as corporal punishment is legal in schools throughout the United States, it is crucial that it be included in policy discussions about reducing demographic disparities in discipline.

Additional Reasons for Concern About Continued Use of Corporal Punishment in U.S. Schools

The disparities documented above should cause concern among local, state, and federal policy officials about the continued use of corporal punishment in public schools. Yet the issue of disparate use is only one of many significant concerns about school corporal punishment. Following are the main concerns that have been raised about school corporal punishment.

There are numerous anecdotal accounts from interviews, news stories, and legal cases (e.g., Block, 2013 ; C. A. ex rel G.A. v. Morgan Co. Bd. of Educ. , 2008 ; Garcia ex rel. Garcia v. Miera , 1987 ; Hardy, 2013 ; Ingraham v. Wright , 1977 ) of children suffering from a range of serious injuries as a result of school corporal punishment that often require medical treatment, including bruises, hematomas, nerve and muscle damage, cuts, and broken bones. The Society for Adolescent Medicine (2003) has estimated that between 10,000 and 20,000 students require medical attention as a result of school corporal punishment each year. These injuries likely result from the use of objects, such as paddles, to hit the children.

Corporal punishment is not effective at increasing compliance in the short-term ( Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016 ) or at promoting long-term compliance and moral behavior ( Regev, Gueron-Sela, & Atzaba-Poria, 2012 ). The more children receive corporal punishment, the more likely they are to be aggressive and to misbehave over time, over and above how aggressive or disobedient they are initially ( Berlin et al., 2009 ; Gershoff, Lansford, Sexton, Davis-Kean, & Sameroff, 2012 ; Lee, Altschul, & Gershoff, 2013 ). Contrary to the arguments by defenders of school corporal punishment that banning it would result in an increase in misbehavior and delinquent activity ( Dubanoski, Inaba, & Gerkewicz, 1983 ; Medway & Smircic, 1992 ), states that have banned corporal punishment from their schools have not seen a subsequent increase in juvenile crime over time ( Gershoff et al., 2015 ). Therefore, no evidence exists that removing corporal punishment from schools creates a statewide permissive environment where youth fail to control their behavior.

Much of the research on corporal punishment has been about that administered by parents; in this large body of research, corporal punishment has been linked with a range of unintended negative outcomes ( Gershoff, 2002 ; Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016 ), including higher rates of mental health problems ( Bugental, Martorell, & Barraza, 2003 ; McLoyd, Kaplan, Hardaway, & Wood, 2007 ), a more negative parent-child relationship ( Coyl, Roggman, & Newland, 2002 ), lower cognitive ability and academic achievement ( Berlin et al., 2009 ), and higher risk for physical abuse ( Bugental et al, 2003 ; Zolotor et al., 2008 ). Only a few studies have considered academic and nonacademic outcomes associated with school corporal punishment specifically, none of which were conducted in the U.S. In a study conducted in West Africa, children who attended schools that used corporal punishment had lower scores in vocabulary and in executive functioning than children who attended schools that did not ( Talwar, Carlson, & Lee, 2011 ). Data from the Young Lives study of four developing countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam) revealed high levels of school corporal punishment at age 8 (between 20% and 80% of children in each country), and that these experiences of school corporal punishment at age 8 predicted by age 12 lower self-efficacy and self-esteem (2 countries) as well as lower math scores (3 countries) and lower vocabulary scores (1 country) ( Ogando Portela & Pells, 2015 ). Although these studies pertain to students outside of the U.S., their findings are consistent with the abundance of U.S.-based research finding unintended negative consequences of parental corporal punishment.

Data from the Young Lives study of four developing countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Viet Nam) revealed …experiences of school corporal punishment at age 8 predicted age 12 lower self-efficacy and self-esteem (2 countries) as well as lower math scores (3 countries) and lower vocabulary scores (1 country) ( Ogando Portela & Pells, 2015 ).

Corporal punishment of adults has been banned in U.S. prisons and U.S. military training facilities ( Block, 1997 ; Jackson v. Bishop , 1968 ). In most states, it is also banned in child care centers, residential treatment facilities, and juvenile detention facilities ( Bitensky, 2006 ). Indeed, 12 of the 19 states that currently allow corporal punishment in schools have banned it from other publicly funded settings that care for children, suggesting that these states already recognize the harm corporal punishment can pose to children. It is also worth noting that it is against the law in all states to beat an animal so long or hard that they are injured, with such behavior being a felony offense in most states ( Otto, 2005 ). For example, Indiana prohibits corporal punishment of vertebrate animals under its anti-animal cruelty statute, even while it permits corporal punishment of children with objects in schools ( Frank, 2013 ).

Thirty-four prominent national organizations have publicly opposed corporal punishment in schools. Professional organizations representing a range of disciplines, including education (e.g., National Association of State Departments of Education (2015) , National Association of Elementary School Principals (2013) ), medicine (e.g., American Academy of Pediatrics (1984) , American Medical Association (1985) ), mental health (e.g., American Psychological Association (1975) ), and law (e.g., American Bar Association (1985) ), have issued statements or policy guidance opposing school corporal punishment and calling for its abolition. In a statement, the Society for Adolescent Medicine called school corporal punishment “an ineffective, dangerous, and unacceptable method of discipline” (2003, p. 391). Nonprofit organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch (joint statement (2010) ) and Prevent Child Abuse America (2013) , also oppose school corporal punishment. In addition, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (1973) and the United Methodist Church (2008) have each passed resolutions calling for an end to corporal punishment in schools, while the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, USA (2012) has called for an end to all corporal punishment. The full list of national organizations opposing school corporal punishment is available in Table 6 .

List of national organizations opposed to school corporal punishment

Note: URLs for each statement are available from the first author.

Corporal punishment is considered a human rights violation by the international human rights community in accordance with the United Nations (U.N.) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC; Gershoff & Bitensky, 2007 ). Article 19 of the CRC protects children from “all forms of physical or mental violence ( U.N., 1989 , Article 19, para. 1), while Article 37 protects children from “cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment” ( U.N., 1989 , Article 37, para. (a)). The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is tasked with interpreting and then monitoring compliance with the CRC, has stated that, under these two CRC articles, “corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment are forms of violence” and as such should be banned by all parties to the CRC ( U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2007 , para. 18). With Somalia’s recent ratification of the CRC ( U.N., 2015 ), the United States is now the only country in the world that has not ratified the CRC. Corporal punishment of children with disabilities also violates the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ( U.N., 2006 ), which President Obama has signed but which the U.S. Congress failed to ratify. Corporal punishment is now banned from schools in 64% of all countries (126 out of 198) worldwide ( Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 2015 ).

Although a majority of American adults (65% of women, 77% of men) still believe that children sometimes “need a good hard spanking” from their parents ( Child Trends, 2013 ), they do not agree that schools should be allowed to use corporal punishment. In a 2005 national poll, 77% of respondents believed that teachers should not be allowed to spank students, with public support for school corporal punishment highest in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee ( SurveyUSA, 2005 ), consistent with the high rates of school corporal punishment in these states described above. Another national poll found a similar percentage of Americans expressing disapproval of school corporal punishment (74%), with high disapproval even among parents who spanked their own children (67%) and among Southerners (65%; Crandall, 2002 ). Tellingly, in a national survey of teachers throughout the country, corporal punishment was ranked as having the lowest effectiveness of the eight methods of discipline considered ( Little & Akin-Little, 2008 ). Americans’ disapproval of corporal punishment is also manifest in the fact that 31 states have banned the practice from schools. This fact would appear to mark the “trend toward its elimination” ( Ingraham v. Wright , 1977 , at line 661) that the Supreme Court did not see in 1977 when only 2 states banned school corporal punishment, leading to its decision that the practice was constitutional.

State Policies Governing the Use of the Corporal Punishment in Schools

Personnel at U.S. public schools are permitted to discipline children not related to them because they are considered to be acting in loco parentis or “in place of the parent” ( Conte, 2000 ). As noted above, school corporal punishment is allowed under a 1977 decision by the Supreme Court known as Ingraham v. Wright . That case involved two junior high school students in Florida who were struck with a wooden paddle by their principal: One suffered a hematoma requiring medical attention and the other was struck on his arms (as he tried to protect himself) and lost the use of one arm for a week. The Supreme Court ruled that this corporal punishment did not violate the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment nor the students’ right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Ingraham decision that corporal punishment is constitutional allowed states to decide for themselves whether to permit school corporal punishment.

Among the 19 states where corporal punishment at schools is currently legal, the language of the relevant statutes varies considerably. We reviewed state laws on school discipline that were recently compiled by the U.S. Department of Education ( Bezinque, Meldrum, Darling-Churchill, & Stuart-Cassel, 2015 ). A common provision in these statutes is that the corporal punishment must be “reasonable” or “not excessive,” without specifying how these qualifiers are defined. For example, Missouri law defines “spanking” by school personnel as the “use of reasonable force” ( Missouri Revised Statutes, 2015 ). Missouri then goes on to apply a tautological standard, whereby corporal punishment is defined as that which is not physical abuse, and vice versa; the statutes state that spanking that is “administered…in a reasonable manner…is not abuse” ( Missouri Revised Statutes, 2015 ). Other states also codify this tautology into their laws, such as in Mississippi, where “Corporal punishment administered in a reasonable manner…by a teacher, assistant teacher, principal or assistant principal…does not constitute negligence or child abuse” ( Mississippi Code, 2013 ). Similarly, Wyoming law ( Wyoming Statutes Annotated, 2015 ) states that, to be considered abuse resulting in physical injury, any bruising must be “greater in magnitude than minor bruising associated with reasonable corporal punishment.”

By feeling the need to legally distinguish school corporal punishment from physical abuse, these states acknowledge that injury (such as bruising) is a common consequence of corporal punishment. If a parent were to cause an injury (including bruising) with their use of corporal punishment, it would be considered physical abuse under the laws of most states and might precipitate involvement by the state’s child protective services agency ( Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2013 ). To avoid school personnel being charged with abuse, some states explicitly exempt school personnel from liability under state child abuse laws. For example, Wyoming law asserts:

“Teachers, principals and superintendents in each district shall be immune from civil and criminal liability in the exercise of reasonable corporal discipline of a student as authorized by board policy.” ( Wyoming Statutes Annotated, 2015 )

In much the same fashion, Missouri law excludes school corporal punishment from its child abuse statutes and explicitly prevents its child protective services department from having any jurisdiction to investigate allegations of child abuse stemming from school corporal punishment ( Missouri Revised Statutes, 2015 ).

This exclusion of school corporal punishment from state definitions of child maltreatment means that in states that allow school corporal punishment, the same behavior that is considered allowable corporal punishment by a teacher could be considered physical abuse if inflicted by a parent. In one case of injury resulting from school corporal punishment in New Mexico, a nurse who examined the student testified that she would have had to call child protective services if the injury had been sustained at home rather than at school ( Garcia ex rel. Garcia v. Miera , 1987 ). This status quo leads to a paradoxical situation in which teachers, as mandated reporters ( Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act , 1974 ), are required to report suspected abuse if a child comes to school with a suspicious injury; however, if the child comes home from school with the same injury, a parent’s report of a teacher for abuse might not be investigated or prosecuted. A startling illustration of this conundrum comes from Kentucky, where a father brought his 12-year-old daughter, who had a large welt on her buttocks as a result of a school paddling, to the local child-protective-services agency. The agency staff performed an investigation and concluded that physical abuse had occurred. The agency then attempted to charge the principal with criminal assault, but a grand jury failed to indict the principal. When the family sued in a U.S. district court, the court again ruled in favor of the principal ( C. A. ex rel G. A. v. Morgan Co. Bd. of Educ. , 2008 ).

To avoid school personnel being charged with abuse, some states explicitly exempt school personnel from liability under state child abuse laws.

A few states recognize the right for parents to have input into, or at least be kept informed about, the discipline of their children. Parents in two states, North Carolina and Texas, can submit a signed form stating that their child is not to receive corporal punishment; in both states, a failure to submit a written request is de facto permission to administer corporal punishment on the child ( North Carolina General Statutes, 2015 ; Texas Education Code, 2013 ). In Georgia, parents may prevent their children from receiving corporal punishment by submitting a signed form at the time of enrollment from a state-licensed doctor asserting corporal punishment would be detrimental to the child’s mental or emotional stability. Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina explicitly grant parents the right to receive a written explanation of the reason for the child’s punishment and the name of a witness to the punishment ( Florida Statutes, 2015 ; Georgia Code, 2015 ; North Carolina General Statutes, 2015 ). Florida law ( Florida Statutes, 2015 ) also requires that districts using corporal punishment review their policy every three years during a board meeting that includes public testimony, providing one mechanism for public input and discussion.

Other states attempt to limit the use of corporal punishment or provide alternatives. The Georgia Code (2015) specifies that corporal punishment may not be used as “a first line of punishment,” whereas Oklahoma law, despite placing few restrictions on corporal punishment generally, requires that the state department of education provide local boards with “education materials dealing with effective classroom discipline techniques as an alternative to the use of corporal punishment” ( Oklahoma Statutes Annotated, 2014 ). These provisions in the state statutes would seem to acknowledge that corporal punishment is not an ideal form of discipline in schools and that alternative methods are preferred.

The Future of School Corporal Punishment in State and Federal Policy

There are three main policy avenues by which school corporal punishment could be ended in the United States. Efforts have been made to change policy at each level over the years, with the only success occurring in state legislation. However, future bans on school corporal punishment could still occur through action at any or all levels.

State Legislation

Each state that has banned school corporal punishment to date has done so in revisions to state statutes, typically in the education code, or in state regulations ( Bitensky, 2006 ). The last state to ban corporal punishment from public schools was New Mexico in 2011. The North Carolina and Texas legislatures have each considered bills to ban corporal punishment in recent years. While full bans have not passed, changes to how corporal punishment is managed in each state have been made into law.

The North Carolina Assembly has passed two recent bills restricting corporal punishment. A 2010 bill prohibiting the use of corporal punishment on children with legally-defined disabilities passed unanimously ( An Act to Prohibit the Use of Corporal Punishment on a Student with a Disability , 2010 ). A year later, the Assembly passed a bill allowing parents to “opt-out” of school corporal punishment for their children by submitting a form at the beginning of the school year ( An Act to Require the Involvement of a Parent , 2011 ). A third bill, which would have prohibited corporal punishment in foster care and required the person delivering corporal punishment be of the same gender as the child, died in committee ( An Act to Prohibit the Administration of Corporal Punishment , 2013 ). A bill to institute a full ban on school corporal punishment failed to pass on a 66 to 50 vote in 2007 ( An Act to Prohibit the Use of Corporal Punishment in the Public Schools , 2008 ) and has not been reintroduced. Since then, the North Carolina State Board of Education adopted a resolution expressing opposition to corporal punishment and observing that “corporal punishment is often indistinguishable from child abuse” ( North Carolina State Board of Education, 2013 , p. 5). This opposition to school corporal punishment from the state’s executive branch, along with the fact that only 12 of the state’s 115 school districts currently report any corporal punishment ( Action for Children North Carolina, 2013 ), suggests that corporal punishment is likely to be eliminated in practice, if not in law, in North Carolina in the near future.

In Texas, State Representative Alma Allen (D-Houston), a former school principal from Houston, introduced a bill to ban corporal punishment from public schools but the bill failed to make it out of committee ( An Act Relating to Corporal Punishment in Public Schools , 2007 ). Four years later, Representative Allen introduced, and the Legislature passed, an “opt out” bill similar to North Carolina’s bill ( An Act Relating to Corporal Punishment in Public Schools , 2011 ). Two stricter provisions included in an earlier version of the bill were dropped before passage, namely a requirement that parents give written permission for their children to receive corporal punishment at school (an “opt-in” provision that would have been stronger than the “opt-out” provision that was passed), and a requirement that the educator delivering the corporal punishment be of the same gender as the student. Representative Allen re-introduced her bill to abolish all school corporal punishment again in the 2012–2013 legislative session ( An Act Relating to Corporal Punishment in Public Schools , 2013 ) and in the 2014–2015 session ( An Act Relating to Corporal Punishment in Public Schools , 2015 ), but neither bill came up for a vote.

Federal Legislation

There are no federal laws or regulations concerning school corporal punishment, other than those authorizing the OCR to collect data about it, as noted above. Bills to ban corporal punishment from public schools were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990, 1991, and 1993 by then-Representative Major Owens (D-NY) and then in 2010, 2011, and 2014 by then-Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY); none came up for a vote. In 2015, Representative Alcee Hastings (D-FL) introduced the Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act of 2015 (H.R. 2268), which would ban corporal punishment in schools. The bill would add text to the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232f et seq.) requiring that states ban corporal punishment in schools as a condition of receiving federal education funding. The bill has 13 cosponsors (all Democrats), two of whom are from states, like Representative Hastings, that allow school corporal punishment. The bill was referred to the House Education and the Workforce Committee and had not yet a hearing as of July, 2016.

Reconsidering a Supreme Court Decision

Legal scholars have argued that the Ingraham v. Wright Supreme Court decision allowing school corporal punishment is ripe for reconsideration ( Bitensky, 2006 ; Sacks, 2009 ). As noted above, one of the Court’s key arguments was that corporal punishment was still widely used in public schools and that the Court could “discern no trend toward its elimination” ( Ingraham v. Wright , 1977 , at 661). At the time the justices considered the case, only two states–New Jersey and Massachusetts–had banned school corporal punishment. Now, a majority (31) of states and the District of Columbia have banned corporal punishment from public schools. A similar “trend toward abolition” was noted in the Court’s Roper v. Simmons ruling that the death penalty (“capital punishment,” not to be confused with “corporal punishment”) was no longer constitutional for individuals who had committed their crimes as juveniles ( Roper v. Simmons , 2005 , at 567). In its decision, the Court reaffirmed a statement it made 47 years earlier in its Trop v. Dulles decision that the interpretation of “cruel and unusual punishments” in the Eighth Amendment must reflect “the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” ( Trop v. Dulles , 1958 , at 100–101).

In its Roper decision, the Court also recognized “the overwhelming weight of international opinion” ( Roper v. Simmons , 2005 , at 578) which reinforced its decision. The Court noted that the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits capital punishment of juveniles as a human rights violation ( United Nations, 1989 , see Article 37). If the Court were to apply the “evolving standards of decency” criterion and an international comparison as it did in Roper , it would similarly side on behalf of abolition of school corporal punishment.

However, there have been no opportunities to apply these criteria because no school corporal punishment cases have made it onto the Court docket since Ingraham in 1977 , though the Court was petitioned on one such case in 2007 ( Serafin v. School of Excellence in Education , 2007 ). In this case, Jessica Serafin, an 18-year-old female high school student, had left campus to buy breakfast but returned before the school bell rang; she was accused of violating the school’s closed-campus policy and received corporal punishment as a result of her alleged infraction. The principal hit her repeatedly with a 4-ft-long piece of wood on the buttocks, hips, legs, and hand; the blows left her buttocks bleeding and her hand swollen—injuries for which she was treated in a hospital emergency room ( Sacks, 2009 ). Ms. Serafin sued the high school, arguing that, as a legal adult, her rights to due process and equal protection were violated; she lost the initial suit and turned to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which rejected her appeal ( Serafin v. School of Excellence in Education , 2007 ). Ms. Serafin then appealed to the Supreme Court but it denied her petition without comment (Case No. 07-9760; U.S. Supreme Court, 2008 ), thus leaving the Ingraham decision in place and school corporal punishment still legal in the U.S..

The U.S. Department of Education (2014) recommends discipline that is developmentally appropriate, proportional to the misbehavior, and focused on teaching children how to learn from their mistakes.”

Corporal punishment in schools has declined dramatically over the last few decades. In the years since the 1977 Ingraham decision, 29 states and the District of Columbia have banned school corporal punishment. Only 14% of U.S. school districts report using corporal punishment; in other words, 86% of school districts have found other ways to discipline children when they misbehave in school. However, U.S. school corporal punishment is still quite commonplace in several southeastern states, making those states unlikely to ban corporal punishment anytime soon. If schools, families, or advocates seek the abolition of school corporal punishment, federal legislation may be necessary to ensure that the remaining states that allow corporal punishment join the majority of states that do not.

Whether or not change comes through policy, school districts on their own can abandon corporal punishment in favor of non-physical methods of discipline, as many districts already have within states where corporal punishment is legal. The U.S. Department of Education (2014) recommends discipline that is developmentally appropriate, proportional to the misbehavior, and focused on teaching children how to learn from their mistakes. Disciplinary approaches with these characteristics, such as school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports ( Bradshaw, Mitchell, & Leaf, 2010 ) and social-emotional learning ( Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011 ), have been found to be effective at reducing problem behavior and creating a positive learning environment for students. The success of such approaches should reassure districts that replacing corporal punishment with non-physical discipline approaches is unlikely to negatively impact the school environment and rather might improve it.

School corporal punishment is concentrated in only a handful of states. The clear disparities in its use according to children’s race, gender, and disability status, and the concerns raised about corporal punishment from research, professional organizations, human rights advocates, and the American public, together call into question the utility and equity of the practice of corporal punishment in U.S. schools. It is likely time for the remaining states that allow school corporal punishment to reconsider its use and to join the majority of U.S. states and countries around the world that have banned corporal punishment from schools.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge support for the writing of this report from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (T32 HD007081, PIs: Kelly Raley & Elizabeth T. Gershoff; R24 HD042849, PI: Mark Hayward) awarded to the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Biographies

Elizabeth Gershoff is an Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences and Associate Director for Faculty Development of the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. For the past 15 years, she has studied the implications of parents’ use of corporal punishment for children and the legal and human rights issues surrounding its use. She has now extended her interest to include corporal punishment in schools and other settings. She recently participated in a Congressional briefing about corporal punishment in schools and the potential for a federal law to ban it. She is part of an international collaborative called Know Violence in Childhood that is collecting evidence on the prevalence and prevention of violence in schools around the world. Her other research is focused on interventions to increase parent involvement in children’s learning and to reduce violence against children in a range of settings. Before joining the University of Texas at Austin faculty, she was a research scientist at the National Center for Children in Poverty in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and later was an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan. She earned a PhD in Child Development from the University of Texas at Austin.

Sarah Font is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology and a faculty affiliate of the Network on Child Protection and Well-Being at Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect and role of the child protection and foster care systems. She completed her PhD in Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her postdoctoral studies at the University of Texas at Austin Population Research Center.

1 This total comes from the full Office for Civil Rights (OCR) universal dataset for 2011–2012 provided to the authors and used throughout this report. OCR reports a total of 166,807 on its website ( http://ocrdata.ed.gov/StateNationalEstimations/Projections_2011_12 ). Here and throughout the report, we exclude reported incidents from states where corporal punishment is illegal and from schools that are contained within juvenile justice facilities, hospitals, or residential treatment centers. For consistency throughout the report, we use the total number from the universal dataset.

2 The excluded charter and specialized school “districts” tend to be a single school or a set of 2 to 3 schools located in the same area as a typical public school district. Specifically, 75% of these “districts” were single schools and 91% included 3 or fewer schools. Of these, 26 (2.6%) had a school that reported use of corporal punishment.

Contributor Information

Elizabeth T. Gershoff, University of Texas at Austin.

Sarah A. Font, Pennsylvania State University.

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Corporal Punishment In Schools: Does It Work?

Nineteen states have laws that allow corporal punishment in public schools, according to the Center for Effective Discipline. Critics argue paddling does not stop bad behavior, while supporters say paddling teaches discipline and respect. StateImpact Florida education reporter Sarah Gonzalez outlines the debate.

Read StateImpact Florida coverage of corporal punishment in Florida schools.

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington. To many people, a teacher spanking a student for starting a fight or talking back in class might seem like a relic of distant times, but it's more common than you might think. Though the trend is down, as recently as six years ago, a quarter of a million students were spanked at school, and laws in 19 states allow corporal punishment.

Experts argue about whether it works. Critics call it child abuse and note that students continue to misbehave even after repeated spankings. Supporters say it's badly needed discipline, that paddling teaches kids respect and keeps them in school.

But how does it work? Who decides? Are parents notified? And do they have to give permission? How hard, and how many times? If you've had experience as a teacher, administrator, a student, what happened, and how did it work out? Give us a call, 800-989-8255. Email us, [email protected]. You can also join the conversation on our website. That's at npr.org. Click on TALK OF THE NATION.

Later in the program, the Amish beard-cutting case and the limits of hate crimes. But first Sarah Gonzalez joins us from member station WMFE in Orlando. She covers education for StateImpact Florida, that's a collaboration between NPR and member stations around the country. Nice to have you with us today.

SARAH GONZALEZ: Thank you, nice to be here.

CONAN: And how common is spanking in Florida schools?

GONZALEZ: So it tends to be an issue in the rural parts of the state. So it tends to be in the Florida Panhandle and a couple other rural areas in Florida. And it ends up being about half of the counties in the state. And it's not going on in the major cities: Miami, Tampa. It's going on in the really small towns.

And in Florida, the most recent data shows that just over 3,600 students were spanked at school, but that doesn't say the number of students - that doesn't say how many times students were actually spanked, just that there were, you know, 3,600 students that were.

And when you look at the data, students who are paddled once are very often re-paddled.

CONAN: So recidivist, as it were. County by county, so it's by school district, each district decides for itself?

GONZALEZ: Yeah, so in Florida, in 2007, the state decided that if school districts wanted the right to paddle students, they had to apply, and the school board has to hear public testimony from parents, teachers, students. And then the school board decides whether or not to continue to allow the practice of corporal punishment in schools.

And now even though a district may decide to use corporal punishment, each principal at every different school can decide not to use the practice. So there's no real consistency, and schools can also decide, you know, it's up to each district to decide whether high school students are going to be considered too old to get a spanking or whether kindergarten students are going to be considered too young to get a spanking.

CONAN: And some other basic questions: Who in each school makes the decision this is a spanking offense?

GONZALEZ: So it's up to the principal and the assistant principal. The assistant principals are generally the ones that end up doing the spanking. And it can be for things like throwing pieces of paper or talking back or consistent tardiness. Those are the offenses that I heard when I was reporting in Northern Florida.

CONAN: And how much? I mean, how many spanks?

GONZALEZ: So there are actually very few regulations on school corporal punishment. There's not much language that says, you know, how you're supposed to spank students. You know, how far back do you, you know, place your arm before you end up swatting the kid? Or how should the board look?

Districts tend to say three swats is the maximum. So if you, you know, you talk back once, maybe you'll get two swats, and if you talk back three - you know, it's you're third or fourth time, then you might get the maximum amount of swats.

CONAN: And is parental permission required in advance?

GONZALEZ: So Florida districts can send home a waiver. Many schools that do use corporal punishment, they send home a waiver asking parents for permission to paddle students. But that permission slip is just kind of a courtesy. It's not legally binding. So if a parent were to sign it and say no, I do not want you to paddle my student, a principal can fail to check that student's file, spank a student, even though their parents asked them not to, and there's nothing that the parent can do, you know, against the school or against the principal.

Schools have the legal right to paddle students against parents' wishes. If the school board decides that we are going to be a district that allows school corporal punishment, then schools are immune both civilly and criminally from any lawsuits.

There is one loophole, which is that parents can argue that excessive force was used or that the paddling was cruel and unusual punishment.

CONAN: And there are other questions, too, about frequency, and you mentioned there's a court case, you reported on one in Florida, where a parent said they did not give permission, their five-year-old child was spanked twice and that it resulted in welts on his body.

GONZALEZ: Yeah, the mom says that the - that her son, Geirrea Bostick, had welts on his bottom when he came home from school, after he rode the school bus, and so she decided to - she filed a notice to sue the Levy County School District. And I actually just spoke to the attorney, and the school district ended up settling the case. They paid Tenika Jones, the mom, some amount of money to settle the case.

CONAN: Settle it out of court.

GONZALEZ: Yes.

CONAN: OK. Now when the spanking occurs, you mentioned no need to notify the parents. Do the parents need to be notified afterwards?

GONZALEZ: Yes, the state does require that schools notify parents after corporal punishment has been administered, and the only other real requirement is that the state also requires that a witness be present when students are getting spanked.

CONAN: So that somebody's there to say this is what I saw. And - well, let's get some callers in on the conversation, 800-989-8255 is our phone number. Email is [email protected]. We want to hear from people on all ends of this, people who have been teachers and students and school administrators, as well, 800-989-8255. Madeline(ph) is on the line. Madeline's with us from Fort Wayne in Indiana.

MADELINE: Yes, how are you? And thank you for taking my call.

CONAN: Sure.

MADELINE: In the early '70s, when I first commenced to teach at a particular junior high, I was told to paddle a female, which I did not believe in doing. And so I put in a request to transfer from that junior high. Nevertheless, within the school corporation where I am - well, I've since retired, OK, and that was four years ago, in 2008.

But to make a long story short, they ceased having corporal punishment in the late '70s here, which I thought was just fabulous because I didn't believe in paddling. I did paddle two male students, and it did correct their behavior. Maybe they didn't want me to do that anymore. But I was, like, only 23 at the time, and I had a problem with paddling myself because since I didn't receive that type of punishment growing up, I said: Why should I inflict it on others?

CONAN: But you said it seemed to, at least in a couple of cases, seemed to work.

MADELINE: Well, it did with the two males. Maybe they just didn't want me to paddle them. I don't know. And I felt as if it was demeaning, you know, and I just refused afterwards, when they asked me to paddle a female. This was the assistant principal at the time.

So I just think corporal punishment is wrong. Now, I do know for a fact that in other places within the state, they continue to do so. But it has been alleviated within this particular system, and I think that's fabulous.

CONAN: OK, Madeline, thanks very much for the call. Appreciate it.

MADELINE: Certainly. Goodbye.

CONAN: Goodbye. And Indiana, yes, she's correct, is on the list of 19 states where this is still allowed. In Florida, is it the case that teachers or administrators of one sex would spank a student of the opposite sex?

GONZALEZ: Yeah, so there, it depends on the school, and it depends on the district. Some school principals can decide only male administrators are going to paddle male students, and only female administrators will paddle female students. But other schools, you know, a male principal can spank sometimes a 17- or eight-year-old female or male student.

And, you know, when I asked students, when I was up there, and I was asking them how does it feel, how - do you feel uncomfortable, or how comfortable are you when you have to turn around and let a male or a female, you know, spank you on your butt, I was anticipating that I was going to hear some students, at least some students, say, you know, it's really uncomfortable for, you know, maybe, like, some sexual reasons. But I've never heard that. Students hadn't really thought of that.

And I was actually reluctant to ask students that question when I noticed that nobody was even touching on a sexual element because I didn't want to plant a seed. You know, I didn't want them to start seeing it this way if they hadn't already.

But I did eventually ask them, and, I mean, if you could see the look on their faces when I asked them, they were just really grossed out by what I thought was a very practical question to ask. These students view their principals as father figures, and in these rural small towns in the Florida Panhandle, it's totally acceptable to get spanked by your principal, and the students, the male and the female high school students, don't consider themselves too old to get a spanking by their principals or by their parents.

CONAN: And when you said earlier that one adult had to be present to be a witness to what happens, that clearly suggests that this is not done in public in any way, not in front of the whole class to humiliate the student.

GONZALEZ: No, it's done in a private room, away from teachers, away from other students. It's generally done in the principal's office or the assistant principal's office.

CONAN: And you mentioned on the butt. Does the law specify where you're going to be hit?

GONZALEZ: Yeah, so you have to hit them on their butt because I guess it's considered the area on the body...

CONAN: Most heavily padded...

GONZALEZ: Right, the area on the body that's the least likely to get injured. But, you know, when you talk to people, groups like the Center for Effective Discipline, you do hear about students having internal bleeding and broken tailbones and things like that.

CONAN: We're talking about spanking in school. If you've had experience as a teacher, administrator or as a student, what happened, and how did it work out? Give us a call, 800-989-8255. The email address is [email protected]. Our guest is Sarah Gonzalez, the StateImpact Florida education reporter. Stay with us. I'm Neal Conan. It's the TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

CONAN: This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan. We're talking about corporal punishment in schools, legal in 19 states, though far from every school where it's allowed uses the practice. We're talking with Sarah Gonzalez, the education reporter for StateImpact Florida, one of the states that does allow corporal punishment. StateImpact is a collaboration between NPR and member stations covering the effects of state policy on the people in their communities.

If you've had experience as a teacher, administrator or as a student, what happened, and how did it work out? Our phone number is 800-989-8255, email [email protected]. You can also join the conversation on our website. That's at npr.org. Click on TALK OF THE NATION.

We reached out to several principals and school administrators in Florida, some in favor of corporal punishment, some not, but none were available to comment on such short notice; it's also a school day down there. Sarah Gonzalez spoke with one of the proponents of corporal punishment, Eddie Dixon(ph), the principal at Holmes County High School in Bonifay, and here he explains how he uses the paddle, and you can hear him demonstrate with his hand.

(SOUNDBITE OF BOARD HITTING HAND)

EDDIE DIXON: That kind of thing. And that doesn't really hurt. It's just the sound.

GONZALEZ: It's a wooden board, and it sure looks like it hurts. Picture a really short rowboat paddle, a rectangle with a handle about 16 inches long, five inches wide and half-an-inch thick. Students at the high school get paddled about twice a week for doing things like...

COLE LONG: Oh, doing stupid stuff, you know, throwing papers, throwing pencils, a couple times for cussing and then back-talking. I used to be a really wild child.

GONZALEZ: That's Cole Long(ph), a senior at Holmes County High. He says the spankings teach students discipline and respect, but every once in a while, a parent from one of these small towns will say that's my job, like Tenika Jones of Levy County.

CONAN: And that's the case we mentioned just a moment ago, Sarah Gonzalez reporting that Tenika Jones settled her case, or the school settled its case, with Tenika Jones out of court and with an undisclosed payment. But a question, Sarah Gonzalez: Where do you go to buy a paddle?

GONZALEZ: Good question. It was actually the first question that I had when I actually - the first time I went into a principal's office, and I sat - I saw the paddle sitting on his desk, you know, amongst his manila folder and all his other principal things. I said: Where do you get one of these? Are there, like, approved stores by the district that you go, and you buy the paddle that's used to spank students?

There is no such store, and it turns out that at Holmes County High School, the principal that you just heard, he has his students make the wooden paddle in woodshop class.

CONAN: I'm sorry, it shouldn't be funny, but it is.

GONZALEZ: It's a little funny. I mean, the students think it's kind of funny also. And I asked him, you know: Are there any regulations? Are there any requirements? Does it have to be, you know, so many inches long and so many inches thick? And he said no, you know, there's not a regulatory agency that monitors or tracks what our paddles are like.

And in another school that I visited, in Madison County, it was an elementary and middle school, and their board was made out of Plexiglas, and it was a lot larger than the wooden board at Holmes County, but it was also a lot thinner. And some of the APs that I spoke to said that very often, the paddle will break while they're administering the punishment. Plexiglas is, you know, it's kind of flexible. It bends a little, I guess.

CONAN: Let's get another caller in on the conversation. This is Casey(ph), and Casey's calling us from Florida, from Destin, Florida.

CASEY: Hello?

CONAN: Hi, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

CASEY: Hey, Neal, thanks for taking my call.

CASEY: Yeah, I have firsthand experience with it. I grew up in a small town in Colorado, and through elementary and middle school, it was a pretty standard practice. It was - as far as the kids go, it was almost like a - kind of like a badge of honor. I mean, you know, we would kind of - you know, the previous lady was talking about making them, that's exactly what we did. We would make them in shop class, and we'd joke about whether we were making our own paddle or not.

CONAN: And did it work in your case?

CASEY: I don't know. I don't think it slowed me down too much. What I got teaching me the right and the wrong was my parents. And that's how I feel about the corporal punishment thing. If I'm going to, you know, mete out any punishment to my children, it's going to be me. I'm not going to allow anybody else to do that.

CONAN: All right, Casey, thanks very much for the...

GONZALEZ: Let me jump in and say something there. There's actually - a lot of the schools will actually call the parents and say hey, your kid just got in trouble, and if you want to come down and spank them yourself, you can, or I can do it for you. And more often than you might think, parents will drive down to the school and spank their own children.

CONAN: One of the arguments - and Casey, thanks very much for the call - one of the arguments that proponents of spanking put forward is that in fact it keeps kids in school. The alternative punishment, if you're not going to spank somebody, is suspension.

GONZALEZ: Right, they say, you know, paddling is a way to punish your child without keeping them from missing too much class, you know, that you call them out of their classroom, you spank them two or three times, and then they go back on their way, and they don't miss anything.

Now opponents argue that, you know, sure, fine, it doesn't keep students out of class, but it also doesn't deter kids from misbehaving. Like we said earlier, students who are paddled once are likely to get paddled again. But, you know, when you look at data on school suspensions or expulsions or detention, students who end up being suspended are also likely to get suspended a second or a third time.

So I think schools just haven't really found a discipline method that actually keeps students from behaving badly.

CONAN: This email from Scott in Illinois: As a seventh-grader I was paddled by the vice principal for smoking in the boys' room. The administrator called my mother to ask permission first and put her on the speakerphone. He said he wanted to administer five whacks for the offense. My mother said give him 10. I never smoked in the boys' room again, but I am smoking as I write this today. So you tell me whether it worked or not.

This from Mary in Woods Hole, Massachusetts: I remember the fear of the paddle really kept us in line many years ago.

I should say that Sarah Gonzalez also spoke with people who do not agree with the use of corporal punishment in Florida schools. Florida State Representative Ari Porth sponsored a bill to ban the practice.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE ARI PORTH: Just because you're born in a different county in Florida doesn't mean you should be any less safe than a child in Broward. And when I heard that this practice still exists, I was mortified. No child should not feel completely safe when they go to school.

CONAN: And he sponsored a bill to end the practice statewide, but Sarah Gonzalez, you reported it died in committee.

GONZALEZ: Yes, yeah, it didn't even reach a committee. It failed in the Florida Legislature this last year.

CONAN: And no efforts - and any prospects for another attempt?

GONZALEZ: They've brought it up a couple of times, and they may bring it up again, but right now our legislature is controlled by Republicans, and, you know, they think that if a school district wants the right to paddle students that it should be up to each school district and that the state doesn't need to make those kind of local decisions.

CONAN: Let's get William(ph) on the line, and William's with us from Nashville.

WILLIAM: Yes, I'm here.

CONAN: Go ahead, you're on the air.

WILLIAM: Yes, well, I have a couple of experiences. One, when I was in the ninth grade, we had a science teacher, and the science teacher would use a paddle on the boys, but with the girls, he would use his hand. And we had some very attractive girls in my class when I was in ninth grade, and I didn't realize at the time what was going on. But later at a class reunion a few years ago, the girls got together and started talking and realized that the guy was a pervert, was taking advantage of this.

And so I think it's very, very important that individuals of the same sex do the corporal - whatever corporal punishment there is. And second, I served in the state Senate for several years and was chairman of the committee that investigated paddling in Tennessee. And we - our report was that paddling is ineffective. It's a lazy way to administer discipline and that it should not be encouraged. It should be discouraged.

We did not outlaw it because there was - there was a large opposition to outlawing it. But we have discouraged it, and paddling is not used often in Tennessee.

CONAN: You said there was opposition to it. At least listening to Sarah Gonzalez' reports, and I'm not - I wonder if the situation is the same in Tennessee, there seems to be, in small towns, a real cultural difference, that people see this as - well, the parents paddle their kids themselves and see no reason that it shouldn't be done at school, too.

WILLIAM: That's true, that's true.

CONAN: And Sarah Gonzalez, you talked to people on that point. They seem to feel pretty strongly about it.

GONZALEZ: Yeah, I mean, I think the important thing to keep in mind is that in Florida, at least, each school district is essentially voting whether or not they want to keep the practice. And so parents and students and teachers and people in the community are voting that yeah, they do want to allow corporal punishment.

And some of the principals that I spoke to, there was one, Willie Williams in Madison County. He said, you know, I don't think that this would be possible in a large urban or suburban school district.

The reason why parents feel comfortable allowing someone else discipline their children in this way is because they all know each other. They go to the same grocery stores, and they go to church together and, you know, they listen to the principal speak at church. And so they trust their school disciplines to interact with their children, whether it's a male or a female, in this way.

CONAN: William, thanks very much for the phone call. Here's an email we have from Ruth in Houston: When I was in the fourth grade, my teacher spanked me with her yardstick. I was reading a library book rather than listening while she taught an arithmetic lesson. She called my name, and I thought the world was coming to an end. Going in front of my classmates while receiving a few smacks on my rear taught me a good lesson. I don't remember it hurting all that much, but the shame I felt was a valuable lesson to listen to my teacher. I loved and respected her, and I think she loved me too.

Let's see if we get Robert on the line. Robert's on the line with us from Phoenix.

ROBERT: I just wanted to share an experience that I had when I was a child, about eight years old. And I honestly can't remember exactly what I did to warrant being spanked, but I was taken to the principal's office. And he had a paddle on display with holes drilled in it, so you kind of knew right away this is something that can happen to you, just kind of warn you against anything you might do.

But I was paddled, went home and told my mother about it. And she didn't know that that was a practice. She found out and was enraged. She went to the principal and kind of gave her her two cents and pulled me out of the school. But more than that, it was what I remember as being shamed and just afraid. I mean, at that point - you're eight years old - I was afraid for my life.

CONAN: Afraid for your life.

ROBERT: Yeah. I mean that's the first time that anybody, up to that point in my life, had hit me. My mom didn't hit me. You know, she scolded me, put me in timeouts, but that was the first time anybody in my life had hit me. And I just remember being traumatized by that and after that being afraid, like physically afraid of my teachers.

And I just remember back to that and how much I recall that when I look at children and see that they're abused, whether verbally or physically, and I remember that feeling that I felt. And it impacted me more now as an adult than I think it did as a child. As a child, it just made me afraid.

And I can only imagine what it would be like to have an abusive household and then also have that happen to you at school. I mean what message would that send to you about adults, the people that you should have been looking to take care of you?

CONAN: Robert, thanks very much for calling.

ROBERT: Yeah. Thanks.

CONAN: We're talking with Sarah Gonzalez, the StateImpact Florida education reporter, about spanking, corporal punishment in schools. You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.

And part of your reporting was - you're, of course, focused on Florida there, but part of your reporting was to look across the country. And figures are hard to come by - at least recent figures - but it does look as if the trend is down.

GONZALEZ: Yeah, the trend is down. Actually, New Jersey was the first state to ban school corporal punishment, according to the Center for Effective Discipline. They banned it in 1867. And the next state to ban school corporal punishment - I mean it was more than 100 years later before the next state did, and it was Massachusetts. And the most recent state to ban it was New Mexico. They banned the practice this last year.

I did want to say something about Robert. He mentioned his mom had pulled him out of the school. One of the students that I interviewed, the five-year-old who was paddled on his second week of preschool, the mom was upset for a couple of reasons because of the welts on his bottom, because it was the baby of the family and he got paddled so early on in his school career.

And she - according to her - she went to the principal and told the principal, you know, stay away from my son. This is a rural, small town, and this school that her son went to was the only elementary school in the area. So he was forced to stay at that school unless they moved, you know, to another county. And so she told the principal, stay away from my son. Don't lecture him. Don't talk to him. And I mean I imagine it's a difficult situation for parents.

CONAN: Yeah. I wondered, is there any information, any statistics on whether special needs students are - is it possible that they can get punished too?

GONZALEZ: I know that special needs students are often dealt with in a different way. They use seclusion and restraint, so they have a different protocol. Sometimes they'll - when they're disciplining them, sometimes they'll discipline students with disabilities by restraining them or putting them in a room off to the side. And other times they seclude students and restrain them just as a way to protect them from either harming themselves or harming other students.

CONAN: Here's an email from Carol: As a new school counselor, I witnessed a male school principal swat a 17-year-old girl bent over his desk with a paddle. She was a resident of a home for abused, neglected and adjudicated youth.

So that's another category. And some parents would be concerned. Is there any information that there is a racial bias?

GONZALEZ: So surprisingly in Florida, maybe surprisingly, I was assuming that there probably would be. You know, when you look at discipline data, it generally tends to be that African-American males are disciplined at a higher rate - suspension, detention, expulsion.

When it comes to corporal punishment - in Florida, at least - you know, the areas where it's happening, it's heavily, you know, white rural areas. And so there are more - there are higher numbers of white students getting paddled than, you know, black students, for example. And they're not - there's not much diversity in those areas, like Hispanics or Asians don't really make up any large amount just because of the community.

CONAN: Now, here's an email from Alex: When I was in middle school and high school, a student at Indiana in the 1970s, I don't recall paddling being anything controversial. I recall paddlings were conducted by a teacher with a witness in an empty classroom and the student was given a choice: to receive one or two whacks with nothing more said about it or having parents called in. Interestingly, most kids elected for the paddling because they knew that getting their parents involved would be worse. Sarah Gonzalez, thank you so much for your time today. This is really interesting.

GONZALEZ: Thank you.

CONAN: Sarah Gonzalez, the StateImpact Florida education reporter, joined us from member station WMFE in Orlando.

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Preventing corporal punishment and violence in schools is critical for children's development and academic achievement, and a smart investment

Quentin wodon, chloe fevre, laura mcdonald, manal quota.

Corporal punishment remains widespread. According to the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children , globally, 4 in 5 children aged 2-14 are subjected to corporal punishment and 86 percent of the world’s children are not protected from corporal punishment by law. Most instances of corporal punishment take place at home, but the practice also remains prevalent in schools in many low- and middle-income countries  . (see Gershoff and Heekes et al . on prevalence estimates)

New analysis confirms the negative impacts of corporal punishment in schools

A new meta-analysis confirms that school corporal punishment is positively associated with lower performance in school, in line with findings of previous systematic reviews, including those by Gershoff and Heekes et al.

The meta-analysis published online last month by Visser et al. also suggests that school corporal punishment is positively associated with both negative externalizing and internalizing behaviors. The meta-analysis includes 55 studies and reviews the literature on the association between school corporal punishment and children’s:

• externalizing behavior (21 studies and 120 effect sizes), 
• internalizing behavior (14 studies and 18 effect sizes), and 
• performance in school (20 studies and 47 effect sizes)

Externalizing behaviors are defined as outwardly directed. They include aggression, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and hostile behavior. Internalizing behaviors are defined as inwardly directed and include anxiety, depression, social inhibition, and psychosomatic complaints. School performance is measured through metrics such as grades and performance on standardized tests. 

One-third of world’s countries still allow the practice

April 30 is the International Day to End Corporal Punishment of Children . The Global Partnership to End Violence against Children and the End Corporal Punishment Initiative have made available an advocacy and communications package for the Day based largely on a global report published last year. The package and global report show that a growing number of countries (63 at last count) have adopted legislation prohibiting all corporal punishment of children, whether by teachers, parents, or other individuals. Yet today, only 14 percent of the world’s children are protected by such comprehensive legislation. In schools specifically, corporal punishment is not legally prohibited in 64 countries . Among these countries, about half have policies or ministerial orders against the use of corporal punishment in schools, and many are adopting reforms to prohibit corporate punishment in schools. These efforts are to be commended, but they will need to reach completion to ensure that all countries have legal frameworks that penalize the corporal punishment of children in schools.   

The cost of corporal punishment and violence in schools is high Violence is highly traumatic. The trauma that corporal punishment and, more generally, violence inflicts on children can be severe, with effects lasting throughout their lives.  Last year the World Bank released an investment case to end violence in schools showing the high cost of inaction (estimated at $11 trillion globally over children’s lifetime) and reviewing the types of interventions that can reduce violence in schools, including corporal punishment. Interventions should start in early childhood and continue in primary and secondary schools. The study argues that they typically have high benefit to cost ratios, which means that every dollar invested generates multiples in terms of future benefits for children. 

Interventions to prevent corporal punishment and violence in schools are affordable As mentioned in a previous blog , most impact evaluations of programs to reduce violence in school have been conducted in high income-countries, but on how to reduce violence by teachers in schools, we can learn a great deal from the Good School Toolkit (GST), a program piloted in Uganda. Through positive discipline, empathy, reflection, and the promotion of new behaviors, an evaluation suggests that the program reduced physical violence by teachers and school staff by 42 percent while also contributing to student well-being and same time teachers’ satisfaction with their role in their school.

One concern sometimes raised about implementing violence prevention programs is their potential cost. In contexts where needs in schools are massive and resources limited, Ministries of Education may hesitate to invest in programs to reduce violence, including corporal punishment. Yet the cost of these programs can be low when scaled up. When GST was piloted, the cost of running the program was at US$ 15 per child, according to an economic evaluation . Given the benefits of the program, this compared favorably against other violence reduction interventions in the region. But there is more good news: simulations suggest that if the program were scaled up nationally, the unit cost per child per year could be reduced dramatically to just a few dollars. And after a few years, these costs would mostly consist of the time allocated by teachers to implement the program, which is already paid for since teacher pay is included in national budgets. These types of programs are not only highly beneficial: they are also affordable. 

Preventing violence in schools is critical to responding to the learning crisis  At the World Bank, we recognize the intrinsic link between violence prevention and learning. This is why ensuring that schools are safe and inclusive is one of five pillars to realizing the future of learning . The importance of preventing violence in schools is starting to be better recognized by the international community, as witnessed by the Safe to Learn Initiative , of which the World Bank is a key partner together with 13 other global partners. Ensuring that schools are inclusive, equitable, safe, and healthy is the first action track of the Transforming Education Summit to be convened by the UN Secretary-General in September 2022. 

Preventing corporal punishment and violence in school is not only the right thing to do; it is also a smart investment  for Ministers of Education, Ministers of Finance, and their partners who seek to respond to the learning crisis and ensure the future of learning.

• Fragility Conflict and Violence
• The World Region

Lead Economist, Education Sector, World Bank

Director, Safe to Learn Global Initiative

Operations Officer, Education Global Practice, World Bank

Senior Education Specialist

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Expert Commentary

Corporal punishment in schools: Research and reporting tips to guide your coverage

Two scholars offer guidance on covering school corporal punishment, which can result in serious injuries and has, for years, been used disproportionately on Black students and children with disabilities.

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by Denise-Marie Ordway, The Journalist's Resource August 31, 2023

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This tip sheet on covering corporal punishment in schools, originally published in March 2023, was updated on Aug. 31, 2023 to reflect the number of states that allow the practice and the results of a new study on public support for laws banning physical forms of child discipline. We also added a link to a policy statement the American Academy of Pediatrics released Aug. 21, 2023.

Despite academic studies noting the harms associated with corporal punishment, U.S. public schools use it to discipline tens of thousands of students a year, data from the U.S. Department of Education show .  

Public schools in 22 states reported using physical discipline on students during the 2017-18 academic year, the most recent year for which national data is available. The practice was most common in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Today, 18 states allow public school personnel to spank, hit or otherwise inflict pain on children to control their behavior, according to Elizabeth Gershoff , a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.

Corporal punishment is legal in private schools in all but three states: Iowa, Maryland and New Jersey.

It’s not yet clear whether schools have relied on this type of discipline more or less often amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, school district officials reported a marked increase in student misbehavior in 2021-22, compared with before the coronavirus arrived in the U.S. in 2019. News stories and research studies have documented the pandemic’s widespread effects on kids’ mental and physical health .

When the U.S. Department of Education surveyed public school districts in 2022, 84% agreed or strongly agreed the pandemic has negatively affected students’ behavioral development.

Almost 6 out of 10 public schools reported “increased incidents of classroom disruptions from student misconduct” and 48% reported increased “acts of disrespect towards teachers and staff.” About half reported more “rowdiness outside of the classroom.”

Even if the number of children physically punished at school has fallen in recent years, the issue warrants journalists’ attention considering the serious injuries students sometimes suffer and the fact that Black children and children with mental or physical disabilities have, for many years, received a disproportionate share of school corporal punishment.

The federal government requires public schools and public preschools to report the number of students who receive physical punishment. In 2017-18, public schools physically disciplined a total of 69,492 students at least once — down from 92,479 kids in 2015-16.

That year, public preschool programs, which are often housed within public elementary schools, reported using corporal punishment on a combined 851 children aged 3 to 5 years.

It’s unclear how common corporal punishment is in private schools because the federal government does not require them to report their numbers. Gershoff, one of the country’s foremost experts on corporal punishment, says she knows of no government agency or organization that tracks that information.

She urges journalists to help their audiences understand the various ways schools use physical discipline and its potential impacts on student behavior, mental and physical health, and academic achievement.

“Physical punishment in schools typically involves an adult hitting a child with a two-foot-long wooden board, known euphemistically as a ‘paddle,'” Gershoff writes in an essay published last week in The Hill. “Consider this: If a principal were to hit an adult, say a teacher or a parent, with a two-foot-long board, that person would be charged with assault with a weapon or aggravated assault. School personnel are hitting children with boards that, in any other context, would be considered weapons — and they do so legally.”

The global use of school corporal punishment

The U.S. is the only member of the United Nations that has not yet ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child , an international treaty adopted in 1989 that, among other things, protects children “from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation.” Somalia ratified the convention in 2015 — the 196 th country to do so.

Globally, about half of all children aged 6 to 17 years live in countries where school corporal punishment is “not fully prohibited,” according to the World Health Organization.

But legal bans do not necessarily mean corporal punishment ceases to exist, a team of researchers from the University of Cape Town learned after examining 53 peer-reviewed studies conducted in various parts of the planet and published between 1980 and 2017.

In South Africa, for instance, half of students reported being corporally punished at school despite a ban instituted in 1996, the researchers note.

“There is also concern that school staff and administrators may underreport school corporal punishment even where it is legal,” they write, adding that a study in Tanzania found that students tended to report twice as much corporal punishment as teachers.

While there’s limited research on corporal punishment in U.S. schools, numerous studies of corporal punishment in U.S. homes have determined it is associated with a range of harms. When Gershoff and fellow researcher Andrew Grogan-Kaylor combined and analyzed the results of 75 research studies on parental spanking published before June 1, 2014, they found no evidence it improves children’s behavior.

In fact, they discovered that kids spanked by their parents have a greater likelihood of experiencing 13 detrimental outcomes, including aggression, antisocial behavior, impaired cognitive ability and low self-esteem during childhood and antisocial behavior and mental health problems in adulthood.

Gershoff says children who are physically disciplined at school likely are affected in similar ways.

“There’s nothing to make me think that wouldn’t hold for corporal punishment in schools,” she tells The Journalist’s Resource. “In fact, I think it might be more problematic in schools because of the lack of a strong relationship in the schools between the children and the person who’s doing the paddling.”

Other research by Gershoff offers insights into the types of misbehavior that lead to corporal punishment. She found that public school principals, teachers and other staff members have used physical punishment for a range of offenses, including tardiness, disrespecting teachers, running in the hallways and receiving bad grades.

Some children have been disciplined so harshly they suffered injuries, “including bruises, hematomas, nerve and muscle damage, cuts, and broken bones,” Gershoff and colleague Sarah Font write in the journal Social Policy Report in 2016.

The Society for Adolescent Medicine estimated in 2003 that 10,000 to 20,000 students require medical attention each year in the U.S. as a result of school corporal punishment. The organization has not updated its estimate since then, however.

Black students disciplined disproportionately

James B. Pratt Jr. , an associate professor of criminal justice at Fisk University who also researches corporal punishment, encourages news outlets to dig deeper into the reasons schools in many states still use pain as punishment.

He says reporters should press state legislators to explain why they allow it to continue, even as public health organizations such as the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention oppose its use. Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement stressing that corporal punishment “is not an effective or ethical method for management of behavior concerns” and calling for it to be abolished in all school settings.

News coverage of corporal punishment needs historical context as well, Pratt says. His research finds that school corporal punishment, which is most concentrated in the U.S. South, plays a role in sustaining a long history of racialized violence in the region.

“Tell the story of corporal punishment as a form of social control,” Pratt says. “There is research to illustrate how corporal punishment has been used historically and today.”

In the U.S., enslaved Black people were whipped, as were Black prisoners in the early 20 th century and Black children who went before juvenile courts in the 1930s, Pratt and his fellow researchers write in “ Historic Lynching and Corporal Punishment in Contemporary Southern Schools ,” published in 2021 in the journal Social Problems.

For generations after emancipation, white supremacists in the South whipped and lynched Black people to intimidate and control them.

When Pratt and his colleagues examined data on student discipline in 10 southern states in 2013-14 and lynchings between 1865 and 1950, they learned that school corporal punishment was more common for all students — but especially Black students — in areas where lynchings had occurred.

Pratt and his coauthors write that banning school corporal punishment “would help dismantle systemic racism, promoting youth and community well-being in a region still haunted by histories of racial terror.”

Guidance from academic scholars

Both Pratt and Gershoff have lots of ideas for helping journalists frame and strengthen their coverage of corporal punishment in schools. Here are some of the tips they shared with The Journalist’s Resource.

1. Find out whether or how schools in your area use corporal punishment, and who administers it.

Public schools generally share only basic information about corporal punishment to the U.S. Department of Education. School officials submit the total number of students they corporally punish in a given academic year and they break down that number according to students’ sex and race and whether they had a disability, were Hispanic or were enrolled in special programs teaching them to speak English.

Not only does the data lack detail — it does not indicate the type of corporal punishment used, for example, or the type of disability the student had — the information is several years old by the time the federal government finishes collecting it and releases it to the public.

Pratt says journalists can help researchers, parents and the public get a clearer picture of what’s happening in local communities by seeking out more details. To get a sense of how often and how local schools use corporal punishment, ask public school districts for copies of disciplinary reports and policies governing the use of corporal punishment.

Interview teacher union leaders and individual teachers to better understand what’s happening in classrooms and what teachers have seen and learned. Reach out to parents whose children have been disciplined to ask about student experiences.

“We know there’s something there, but how it functions on the ground is what we need to understand,” Pratt says.

Some questions to investigate:

• Which misbehaviors lead to corporal punishment?
• Who administers physical discipline?
• What are children hit with and how many times?
• Where on their bodies are they struck?
• How often have children been seriously injured and how were those situations handled?
• Have local schools been sued over corporal punishment?
• In areas where corporal punishment is banned, have school employees been disciplined or terminated for using corporal punishment?

2. Ask how schools’ use of corporal punishment and other forms of discipline changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students, teachers and other school staff members experienced a lot of stress during the pandemic, as schools struggled to provide instruction and other student services while also monitoring and responding to COVID-19.

At the start of the pandemic, many schools closed their campuses temporarily and taught lessons online. When everyone returned to campus, the situation was, at times, confusing or somewhat chaotic. Many schools discovered they needed to rely more heavily on substitute teachers , who often do not have classroom management training, to fill in when regular teachers were sick, in quarantine or caring for loved ones.

It’s a good idea for journalists to try to gauge how such changes have affected student behavior and discipline. Local school districts and state departments of education should be able to provide more recent records than the U.S. Department of Education. Another source of data: colleges and universities where faculty are studying school discipline.

A September 2022 analysis from the University of Arkansas, for example, shows a sharp decline in several types of student discipline in that state since before the pandemic began. However, the authors write that they “cannot tell if the decline is the result of improved student behavior or inconsistent reporting by schools.”

“Corporal punishment was used [as] a consequence for 16% of infractions in 2008-09 and declined to being used in 3% of infractions in 2020-21,” they write.

Gershoff expects corporal punishment numbers to continue to fall nationally.

“69,000 is still too many kids being traumatized at school,” she says.

There are parts of the country where school officials in recent months have reinstated corporal punishment or voiced support for it, however. In 2022, the school board in Cassville, Missouri, voted to bring it back after two decades of not using it. And a school board member in Collier County, Florida , announced after his election last November that he wanted schools across the region to reintroduce physical discipline.

3. Learn the legal history of school corporal punishment in the U.S.

It’s important that journalists covering corporal punishment understand the history of the practice , including the stance the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have taken on the issue.

Individual states have the authority to create and enforce discipline policies for children attending schools within their borders. Generally speaking, Supreme Court justices have been reluctant to intervene in the day-to-day operations of public schools, so long as educators do not heavily infringe on students’ constitutional rights.

Two Supreme Court cases decided in the late 1970s reinforced public schools’ right to use physical discipline. In 1975, in Baker v. Owen , justices ruled that public schools have the right to use corporal punishment without parents’ permission. In Ingraham v. Wright , decided in 1977, the court decided that corporal punishment, regardless of severity, does not violate the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

In writing the majority opinion for Ingraham v. Wright, Justice Lewis Powell asserts that “corporal punishment serves important educational interests.”

“At common law a single principle has governed the use of corporal punishment since before the American Revolution: Teachers may impose reasonable but not excessive force to discipline a child,” Powell writes.

The Supreme Court did not, however, explain what actions would be considered “excessive.” In 1980, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit established a test for determining that. Since then, circuit courts in several federal districts have required lawsuits challenging schools’ use of corporal punishment to meet that threshold, often referred to as the “shocking to the conscience” test.

Under that very high standard, corporal punishment is deemed excessive if “the force applied caused injury so severe, was so disproportionate to the need presented, and was so inspired by malice or sadism rather than a merely careless or unwise excess of zeal that it amounted to a brutal and inhumane abuse of official power literally shocking to the conscience.”

An example of corporal punishment a U.S. appeals court decided was excessive : A football coach in Fulton County, Georgia, struck a 14-year-old freshman so hard in the face with a metal lock, the boy’s left eye “was knocked completely out of its socket,” leaving it “destroyed and dismembered.”  

An example of corporal punishment an appeals court did not consider excessive : A teacher in Richmond, Virginia, allegedly jabbed a straight pin into a student’s upper left arm, requiring medical care. The court, in its ruling, notes that “most persons are with some degree of frequency jabbed in the arm or the hip with a needle by physicians or nurses. While it is uncommon for a teacher to do the jabbing, being jabbed is commonplace.”

Over the years, legal scholars have written multiple law journal articles examining the Ingraham v. Wright decision and its implications. An article by Michigan State University law professor Susan H. Bitensky , for example, looks specifically at its impact on Black children .

She argues corporal punishment has impeded Black children’s educations, undercutting the commitment to social progress the Supreme Court made when it decided in 1954, in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka , that segregating public schools by race was unconstitutional.

“The whole foundation for [the Brown v. Board of Education] holding on segregated schools is a fervent concern that the schools should imbue children, especially black children, with a positive sense of their intellectual worth and should provide them with a commensurate quality of educational experience,” Bitensky writes in the Loyola University Chicago Law Review in 2004.

4. Explain that corporal punishment is a form of social control and that public schools use various types of discipline disproportionately on Black children.

Pratt stresses the importance of putting corporal punishment reports into context.

For many years, public schools have used that disciplinary approach disproportionately on Black youth, according to U.S. Department of Education records . But Black students also are disproportionately suspended, expelled, physically restrained and arrested on suspicion of school-related offenses.

According to the education department’s Civil Rights Data Collection ,  37.3% of public school students who were spanked, paddled or otherwise struck by school employees in 2017-18 were Black. Meanwhile, Black kids comprised 15.3% of public school enrollment nationwide that year.

As a comparison, 50.4% of corporally punished students and 47.3% of all public school students were white.

In public preschools, black children and children with mental and physical disabilities were disproportionately expelled.

Pratt says journalists need to help the public understand how school discipline and other forms of social control such as targeted policing programs and laws prohibiting saggy pants are connected. He encourages reporters to incorporate research into their stories to illustrate how implicit bias and misperceptions about Black children can influence how educators view and interact with Black students.

Research, for example, suggests white adults perceive Black boys to be older than they are and that prospective teachers are more likely to perceive Black children as angry than white children.

“All of [these factors] relate to one another and set the tone,” Pratt says. “This is a collection of harms, and a nefarious one.”

5. Check for errors in school disciplinary reports.

Several news reports in 2021 and 2022 indicate the U.S. government’s tally of children receiving corporal punishment at school may be incorrect.

An investigation the Times Union of Albany published in September reveals hundreds of New York public school students have been physically disciplined in recent years, even though the practice has been generally banned since 1985. State and local government agencies received a total of 17,819 complaints of school corporal punishment from 2016 to 2021, 1,623 of which were determined to be substantiated or founded, the news outlet reported.

“The substantiated cases documented in state Education Department records include incidents where teachers or other staff members pushed, slapped, hit, pinched, spanked, dragged, choked or forcefully grabbed students,” Times Union journalists Emilie Munson , Joshua Solomon and Matt Rocheleau write.

A May 2021 analysis from The 74 , a nonprofit news outlet that focuses on education issues, shows that schools in six states where corporal punishment had been banned reported using it in 2017-18.

Miriam Rollin, a director at the National Center for Youth Law, told The 74 that national figures “are likely a significant undercount.”

“Every school district in the country self-reports its data to the federal government and they’ve long been accused of underreporting data on the use of restraint and seclusion and other forms of harsh discipline,” Rollin told The 74 investigative journalist Mark Keierleber .

6. Press state legislators to explain why they allow school corporal punishment.

Gershoff and Pratt agree journalists should ask legislators in states that allow schools to use physical discipline why they have not stopped the practice.

“Tell the legislative story — who’s legislating this?” Pratt says. “Examine the people doing the work to end [corporal punishment] and also those wanting to maintain it.”

While a handful of members of Congress have introduced bills aimed at eradicating corporal punishment in recent years, none were successful.

In February 2021, U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida introduced the Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act of 2021 . But Hastings died two months later, and the bill never made it out of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut introduced the Protecting Our Students in Schools Act in 2020 and 2021 without success. He reintroduced the legislation again in May.

Gershoff notes that many Americans want to ban school corporal punishment. More than 65% of U.S. adults who participated in a national survey on the issue in late 2020 indicated they agree or strongly agree with a federal ban, she and other researchers write in a paper that appears in the September 2023 edition of Public Health. At the same time, only 18% of survey participants believed most other adults feel the same way.

“Americans underestimate support for a ban, which may explain why folks have not been more vocal in calling for a ban even though they agree we should have one,” Gershoff wrote in an email to The Journalist’s Resource.

7. Look for stories in corporal punishment data.

Browse around the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection , which provides data on corporal punishment in public schools at the national, state and local levels as of the 2017-18 academic year. Notice trends, disparities and where there are unusually high numbers of corporal punishment cases.

For more recent data, reach out to schools, school districts and state education departments. Also, ask researchers for help explaining whether and how data from 2017-18 are still relevant.

Here are some data points worth looking into from the 2017-18 academic year, the most recent available at the national level:

• Mississippi led the country in corporal punishment cases as of that year. Public schools there reported using it at least once on a total of 20,309 students. In Texas, which had the second-highest number, public schools corporally punished 13,892 kids at least one time each.
• More than 30% of public school students who experienced corporal punishment in Indiana, Ohio, South Carolina and Wisconsin had mental or physical disabilities.
• North Carolina public schools didn’t administer corporal punishment often. But when they did, they used it primarily on Native American students. Of the 57 students disciplined this way, about half were categorized as American Indian or Alaska Native. Native American kids made up less than 1% of public school enrollment in North Carolina.
• Oklahoma is the only other state where a large proportion of corporally punished students were Native American. Schools there used corporal punishment on a total of 3,968 students, 24.4% of whom were categorized as American Indian or Alaska Native. Statewide, 6.6% of public school students were Native American.
• Illinois public schools reported using corporal punishment on a total of 202 students, 80.2% of whom were “English language learners,” or children enrolled in programs to learn English.

8. Familiarize yourself with academic research on corporal punishment at schools and in homes.

Gershoff points journalists toward a large and growing body of research on the short- and long-term consequences of corporal punishment at home and in schools. It’s important they know what scholars have learned to date and which questions remain unanswered.

To get started, check out these five studies:

Punitive School Discipline as a Mechanism of Structural Marginalization With Implications for Health Inequity: A Systematic Review of Quantitative Studies in the Health and Social Sciences Literature Catherine Duarte; et al. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, January 2023. This is one of the most recent papers examining the relationship between school discipline and student health in the U.S. The authors reviewed 19 studies published between 1990 and 2020 on punitive school discipline, which includes corporal punishment as well as suspension and expulsion. They find punitive school discipline is linked to “greater risk for numerous health outcomes, including persistent depressive symptoms, depression, drug use disorder in adulthood, borderline personality disorder, antisocial behavior, death by suicide, injuries, trichomoniasis, pregnancy in adolescence, tobacco use, and smoking, with documented implications for racial health inequity.” School Corporal Punishment in Global Perspective: Prevalence, Outcomes, and Efforts at Intervention Elizabeth Gershoff. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 2017.

In this paper, Gershoff summarizes what was known at that point in time about the prevalence of school corporal punishment worldwide and the potential consequences for students. She also discusses the various ways schools administer corporal punishment, including forcing students to stand in painful positions, ingest noxious substances and kneel on small objects such as stones or rice. She includes a chart offering estimates for the percentage of students who receive corporal punishment in dozens of countries, including China, India, Indonesia, Jamaica and Peru.

Spanking and Child Outcomes: Old Controversies and New Meta-Analyses Elizabeth Gershoff and Andrew Grogan-Kaylor. Journal of Family Psychology, 2016.

Gershoff and Grogan-Kaylor analyze the results of 75 peer-reviewed studies published before June 1, 2014 on parental spanking, or “hitting a child on their buttocks or extremities using an open hand.” They state that they find “no evidence that spanking does any good for children and all evidence points to the risk of it doing harm.”

Other big takeaways: “In childhood, parental use of spanking was associated with low moral internalization, aggression, antisocial behavior, externalizing behavior problems, internalizing behavior problems, mental health problems, negative parent-child relationships, impaired cognitive ability, low self-esteem, and risk of physical abuse from parents. In adulthood, prior experiences of parental use of spanking were significantly associated with adult antisocial behavior, adult mental health problems, and with positive attitudes about spanking.” Historic Lynching and Corporal Punishment in Contemporary Southern Schools Geoff Ward, Nick Petersen, Aaron Kupchik and James Pratt. Social Problems, February 2021.

School corporal punishment is linked to histories of racial violence in the southeastern U.S., this study finds. The authors analyzed data on school corporal punishment in 10 states in that region during the 2013-2014 academic year and matched it with data on confirmed lynchings between 1865 to 1950. “Of the counties that reported one or more incidents of corporal punishment, 88% had at least one historic lynching and the average number of lynching incidents in these counties is 7.07,” the authors write. They add that banning school corporal punishment in these states would “help dismantle systemic racism, promoting youth and community well-being in a region still haunted by histories of racial terror.”

Disproportionate Corporal Punishment of Students With Disabilities and Black and Hispanic Students Ashley MacSuga-Gage; et al. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 2021.

When researchers looked at student discipline in the 2,456 U.S. public schools that had used corporal punishment at least 10 times during the 2015-16 academic year, they discovered that children with disabilities were almost two times as likely to receive corporal punishment as students without disabilities. The finding is troubling, they write, considering the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act recommends schools use a behavior modification strategy known as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports when students with disabilities misbehave.

The researchers, from the University of Florida and Clemson University, also found that Black students without disabilities were twice as likely to be physically disciplined as white students without disabilities. Meanwhile, schools were less likely to use corporal punishment on Hispanic students than white, non-Hispanic students.  

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Just a few states ban corporal punishment in all schools. Here's why experts say it should be 'abolished.'

When children head to school each morning, they have a lot on their minds. They might be worried about whether there will be a pop quiz or if they'll be able to smooth things over with a friend. But, in some states where corporal punishment is not expressly banned, students also walk into school knowing they might be paddled or spanked that day.

Corporal punishment, which can take the form of paddling, spanking or another deliberate infliction of physical pain, is the harshest form of punishment that can be delivered in schools. The United Nations (UN) calls it a human rights violation . According to UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang, corporal punishment, "conflicts with the child's human dignity and the right of the child to physical integrity. It also prevents children from reaching their full potential, by putting at risk their right to health, survival and development. The best interests of the child can never be used to justify such practice."

And in August 2023, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a statement from the Council on School Health calling for the practice to be "abolished in all states by law." While Colorado banned the corporal punishment in public schools in 2023, 17 states have yet to ban it, and 14 still practice it. Only four states — New Jersey, Iowa, Maryland and New York — have made banned corporal punishment in private schools.

"The use of corporal punishment in schools is not an effective or ethical method for management of behavior concerns and causes harm to students," the statement reads. "The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that corporal punishment in all school settings be abolished in all states by law and replaced by alternative forms of student behavior management. Corporal punishment remains legal in many public and private schools in the United States and is disproportionately used among Black students and children with disabilities."

What happens when a child is paddled at school?

Tessa Davis from Little Rock, Ark. thought corporal punishment was best for her now 9-year-old son. When her son was 5, Davis received a call from his school asking for permission to paddle the then-kindergarten student because he had been physically aggressive toward another student. Davis asked to see a video of the incident, but says the school wouldn't show it to her. The school told her if she didn't agree to paddling, her son would be suspended for three days instead.

Davis says she and her husband agreed, in part because they grew up in an environment where the statement, "they just need a good spanking," was ingrained into their way of life. Another major factor in their decision was that both parents work full-time and could not afford to take three days off if their son was sent home. Davis didn't think she really had a choice at all.

Davis's son was paddled by the school's assistant vice principal. "When I picked [my son] up from school he was defeated and he was sad," she recalls. The child, who had been through the foster care system and is adopted, had already been through a great deal of trauma in his short life. "I realized we had caused him more pain," she says, noting the incident broke his trust in the assistant vice principal and made him afraid to go to school.

The punishment was also confusing for him because he was punished for "putting his hands on someone," by someone, in turn, putting their hands on him. Davis immediately regretted her decision to consent to the paddling.

Does corporal punishment breed shame and fear in kids?

Despite all of this, Davis says many parents in her community support the practice because they were spanked at home and school, "and turned out just fine." She wonders how well they really turned out, saying she was spanked at home as a child and it only taught her to lie to cover up her mistakes, hide her feelings and shut herself off because she was afraid of getting hit. "I was afraid to admit I made a mistake or ask for help," Davis says, explaining that even telling someone she didn't understand how something should be done might have led to a spanking if an adult in her life thought wasn't following the rules.

Since her son was paddled, Davis has sought out support for alternatives to paddling. She thinks schools need to do a better job understanding how trauma affects children like hers, leading to bad behavior. Davis's son also has multiple learning disabilities, and she says his frustration sometimes results in meltdowns. She's now working with a therapist to come up with alternatives, including working on her son's self-esteem and giving him color-coded cards he can use to indicate when he needs a break to address the root cause of why he acts out. Although he struggles at times, his behavior has improved.

The alternative to corporal punishment

Ross Greene, founder of Lives in the Balance , thinks adults should address children's behavior when they act out, whether it's at home or at school. However, since consequences like corporal punishment harm children while not doing anything to hold them accountable, he does't believe spanking or paddling is the right approach.

Instead, Greene explains, children who act out are struggling. Like Davis's son, they may be having a hard time understanding class material or coping with a past trauma. Alternatively, they might be having problems concentrating. They may be preoccupied with a bully or problems at home. According to Greene, children do well when they can, and they may act out when they can't meet expectations. That means corporal punishment is not likely to lead to any lasting change because the root cause of what led to the behavior in the first place is never addressed.

Instead of using behavior modification strategies like corporal punishment, Greene thinks parents and school administers should focus on problem-solving. He advocates for the use of collaborative and proactive solutions that identify the problems that are leading to outbursts, then working with the child to solve those problems. With this model, the child is fully accountable and engaged in problem-solving rather than being the passive recipient of punishment. Using collaboration also avoids many of the risks of corporal punishment to the child, including the loss of trust of adults in their life and an unwillingness to ask for help or talk about their problems.

Since Davis started using a similar approach with her son, she's noticed a big difference. Now, instead of hiding things from his mom because he's afraid of getting in trouble, Davis's son will tell her if he's had a bad day and they talk about what he could have done differently.

Greene says schools are currently spending an inordinate amount of time addressing discipline. Instead of putting their resources toward punishment, he thinks their time and efforts would be much better spent focusing on why kids are acting out. Schools that have moved away from punishment and started using a collaborative and proactive approach have universally reported this approach saves time, with better outcomes. According to Greene, some of these schools have gotten to the point where they no longer have any behavioral referrals.

What's it like to administer corporal punishment to kids?

Jeffrey, an administrator from Arkansas who prefers to keep his last name anonymous for privacy reasons, saw the harm of corporal punishment firsthand and sees the benefit of a collaborative and proactive approach. In his previous job he was the person responsible for paddling students. He usually paddled a child at least once a da y , although he did not make the decision about whether a child should be paddled or not. Offenses ranged from not staying on task in class to being in physical altercations.

At first Jeffrey just picked up the paddle because it was part of his job. However, eventually he began questioning what he was doing and why.

"[There was no] change in the behavior whatsoever," he tells Yahoo Life. "All it did was give the adults satisfaction because they saw the kid cry on their way back to class." On top of that, Jeffrey started noticing the long-term impact paddling had on some children including, "trauma, humiliation and even being subjected to teasing from peers when they returned to the classroom."

He also realized parents were offered only a "false choice" in opting out of paddling. This is because, just as at the school Davis's son attended, if parents opted out of paddling, children were suspended for three days as an alternative and most parents could not afford to take off of work for so long. Jeffrey finally reversed his pro-paddling stance completely once he realized Black students were paddled more frequently, even though they made up a small percentage of the student population at his school.

The long-term affects of spanking and paddling

At that point, Jeffrey started looking into the practice — which he hadn't before questioned because he grew up with paddling and thought it was common everywhere. Once Jeffrey learned more about how harmful paddling can be, he started advocating for children and playing a role in the "school to prison pipeline." According to the United States Department of Justice , "for identical offenses, those punished severely were more likely to be in prison than those who were punished lightly, or not at all."

Although Jeffrey no longer works at the school where he was responsible for paddling students, he still works as a school administrator in Arkansas. Now, he uses, "restorative approaches, conscious discipline, trauma-informed care and teaching conflict resolution skills."

"I believe in building relationships and 'connecting before correcting' with students," he says.

Davis and Jeffrey now advocate for banning the use of paddling in schools through Arkansans Against Paddling . Both emphasize they don't hold anything against those who are still pro-paddling, but think more education is needed about both the risks of corporal punishment and alternatives to the practice.

Progress is slow because in some communities, corporal punishment has been used for generations and is accepted as a way of life. Although Davis reaches out to teachers directly to talk to them about why she is against corporal punishment, she believes federal legislation might be the only way to end the practice nationwide.

This article was originally published on Sept. 23, 2022, and has been updated.

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Argumentative Essay: Should Corporal Punishment Have a Place in Education?

Corporal punishment is the act of using physical force to punish a student for wrongdoing. It might involve a ruler across the back of the hand or a cane to the rear. Corporal punishment has since been outlawed as a cruel and unusual punishment. In this essay, I explore the for and against of implementing corporal punishment within education.

One reason to bring back corporal punishment is to give power back to teachers again. Teaching staff often struggle to chastise students because current punishments have no intimidation power. If they have no power to intimidate students, there’s nothing to fear and no deterrent. A lack of corporal punishment leaves teachers powerless to prevent bad behavior.

On the other hand, corporal punishment often causes injuries and trauma unnecessarily. Many acts of corporal punishment leave visible marks and bruises. The mental anguish, particularly for vulnerable students, can last a lifetime. This doesn’t have the effect of dealing with bad behavior. It can lead directly to lifelong mental problems.

There are also studies showing corporal punishment has no effect on bad behavior. They demonstrate the behavior altering effects is actually trauma coming to the surface. This can cause chronic low confidence and low self-esteem.

Corporal punishment is a viable alternative to suspension. Children often don’t enjoy school. A suspension from school can send out the message it’s a reward rather than a punishment. Using corporal punishment keeps students in school and punishes them, therefore making it clear it isn’t a reward.

There’s always the risk of it leading to abuse in the classroom, however. Teachers do differ in how hard they hit a student. There’s a difference between a 100-pound female teacher and a 250-pound male teacher delivering corporal punishment. This leads to an uneven system whereby the severity of the punishment largely revolves around luck. It’s unfair on students and only makes abuse by teachers more likely.

When a student is punished severely, parents often have to leave work to collect them and take them home again. It disrupts the school schedule and the parent’s schedule. Constant call-outs could lead to a parent losing their job for being unreliable. It can cause a great deal of damage to a family. Corporal punishment stops this from happening because it places the trust in the hands of the teachers.

Putting trust in teachers isn’t something everyone is willing to do, however. Sexual abuse is a major topic in schools and parents are rightly worried about the chances of this abuse manifesting itself. Abuse comes in many different forms. A male teacher could touch a female student on the breast and claim he was meant to touch her on the shoulder. All corporal punishment does is increase the likelihood of sexual abuse occurring.

These are the main arguments for and against corporal punishment. They discuss the practical aspects and the potential flaws of the system. I believe corporal punishment is a flawed system and there are superior alternatives to discipline, such as expulsion and community service. They offer up a punishment without the abuse.

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Corporal punishment is a form of punishment used on children to correct bad behavior. The definition of corporal punishment is, a physical punishment , as flogging, inflicted on the body of one convicted of a crime (Dictionary.com). While several states strictly prohibit corporal punishment in schools, 44% of states in the U.S. still allow it to occur. Corporal punishment is an inappropriate way to correct bad behavior. However, almost 50% of the states in the U.S. still allow it to occur. Corporal punishment is always wrong to use in schools because it causes long-term negative effects on students, negative opinions of school or teachers, and it can increase the rate of crime and violence from students.

Related Topics

• School corporal punishment
• Corporal punishment

Corporal Punishment in Schools

Collaborators.

• COUNCIL ON SCHOOL HEALTH : Sonja C O'Leary ,  Sara Bode ,  Marti Baum ,  Katherine A Connor ,  Emily Frank ,  Erica Gibson ,  Marian Larkin ,  Tracie Newman ,  Yuri Okuizumi-Wu ,  Ryan Padrez ,  Heidi Schumacher ,  Anna Goddard ,  Kate King ,  Erika Ryst ,  Carolyn McCarty

Affiliations

• 1 Adult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado.
• 2 Community and Population Health, Children's National Hospital, Washington, District of Columbia.
• 3 Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health and Science University and OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, Portland, Oregon.
• PMID: 37599648
• DOI: 10.1542/peds.2023-063284

The use of corporal punishment in schools is not an effective or ethical method for management of behavior concerns and causes harm to students. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that corporal punishment in all school settings be abolished in all states by law and replaced by alternative forms of student behavior management. Corporal punishment remains legal in many public and private schools in the United States and is disproportionately used among Black students and children with disabilities. The aims of this policy statement are to review the incidence of school-based corporal punishment; the negative physical, psychological, and developmental impact of corporal punishment on students; and the need for continued advocacy by pediatricians, educators, and parents to abolish corporal punishment in all schools.

Copyright © 2023 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

• Black or African American
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Argumentative Essay Topic – Corporal Punishment In Schools

Corporal Punishment In Schools. You can find Previous Year Argumentative Essay Topics asked in ICSE board exams.

Introduction: What is corporal punishment? It should be abolished.

• School is detested by students.
• It inhibits the child’s natural urge to learn.
• Results in school dropouts and often causes grievous injury
• Affects personality development of the student

Conclusion: Need to ban corporal punishment

Corporal punishment is meted out to students in school by teachers, for minor act of indiscipline or misbehaviour. This is a retributive form of punishment in which teachers resort to caning or spanking. The objective of awarding such form of punishment is to deter others from committing the same mistake. This concept and method of punishment, is not conducive to education in school, which is a temple of learning.

Students go to school to acquire knowledge and to add to their mental acumen, rather than be subjected to torture and humiliation which erodes their self esteem and confidence. Such schools become a dignified prison, where students follow set rules and procedures, the non-compliance of which invites immediate retribution. Thus instead of looking forward to another day at school, students are happy staying away from it, defeating the very objective of a school.

Corporal punishment also inhibits their mental faculty, which gets clouded with fear and apprehension. It curtails the natural urge of experimenting and learning through trial and error, which is vital in the learning process. The lurking fear of punishment on committing a mistake dampens their initiative. They thus remain content in following rules, which curb their creative talent to do things differently.

Often such punishment has a telling effect on the morale of the student who avoid going to school. Apart from physical injury, the embarrassment that accompanies it has a profound effect on the psychology of the young pupil. They detest the school and its tormentors and often drop out of school. Thus not only does it kill the desire to acquire knowledge, but also changes the course of their life, turning them a criminal or an antisocial element. There are also instances, of students being crippled for life or even dying, because of being subjected to severe form of corporal punishment.

Corporal punishment also has a crippling effect on the personality of the students shattering their self confidence and self belief. They are temperamentally nervous and lacking in drive and initiative. This reflects in their lack of creativity and self-esteem which makes them a misfit in the society.

Indeed the days of ‘ Spare the rod and spoil the child’ are over. There is an urgent need to ban corporal punishment in schools if the quality of education is to be enhanced. It is encouraging to note that many institutions have done away with this form of punishment. Moreover doing away with corporal punishment would encourage more and more students to go to school. This would benefit the society, for in the words of Victor Hugo, “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.”

Assignments

• ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’. Give your views for or against the statement.
• ‘Fear of punishment only enforces discipline.’ Give your views for or against the statement.