Corporal Punishment in the Educational Setting

�

There have been many debates as well as several studies conducted on the subject of corporal punishment. Corporal punishment simply means bodily punishment, while the definition of spank in Webster's Dictionary is: 1.) to strike with something flat, as the open hand; especially on the buttocks, as in punishments 2.) to move away swiftly or smartly, a smack given in spanking. (Bible.com) As far back as the colonial period, corporal punishment has been accepted and practiced in American schools. Thirty states prohibit corporal punishment in public schools, and many school districts or individual schools have chosen not to use it (Head, 3).

States Banning Corporal Punishment

Twenty states (in red) have laws permitting corporal punishment in schools. Head cites seven major reasons against the use of corporal punishment: "it is ineffective, it can lead to abuse, it can unintentionally cause serious physical damage, it trains a child to use violence, slapping or any other type of force used on the buttocks as a sexual violation, spanking lowers a child's IQ, and spanking creates fear in the child."

Legality of corporal punishment in Europe Corporal...

A thin, flexible cane designed for corporal punish...

Bodilo adjusting his culottes after corporal punis...

Although, use has steadily declined since the 1970's, the center for Effective Discipline

(2006) estimates that public school officials administer corporal punishment to over two thousand American school children everyday. Jeff Charles (2000) examined much research on the effects of corporal punishment and its effect on school items. Charles reported that in the "top 10" paddling states no positive outcomes could be found. The "top 10" included:

Seven of these states have below average graduation rates. The SAT scores and the crime statistics...