Corporal Punishment in Schools | Office of Justice Programs (2024)

FAQs

How effective is corporal punishment in schools? ›

Decades of research have shown that physical force doesn't help kids manage difficult feelings or choose positive behaviors. In fact, family studies show that spanking, hitting and other painful punishments actually lead to more problematic behavior in kids.

Supporters of corporal punishment, on the other hand, claim that it produces immediate decreases in negative behavior; some research supports this claim. Advocates of corporal punishment believe it produces respect for authority, obedience, and self-discipline.

Corporal punishment is a discipline method in which a supervising adult deliberately inflicts pain upon a child in response to a child's unacceptable behavior and/or inappropriate language. The immediate aims of such punishment are usually to halt the offense, prevent its recurrence and set an example for others.

California Education Code 49000 Prohibition of Corporal Punishment. The Legislature finds and declares that the protection against corporal punishment, which extends to other citizens in other walks of life, should include children while they are under the control of the public schools.

There is general consensus that corporal punishment is effective in getting children to comply immediately while at the same time there is caution from child abuse researchers that corporal punishment by its nature can escalate into physical maltreatment," Gershoff writes.

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 punishments include flogging, beating, branding, mutilation, blinding, and the use of the stock and pillory. In a broad sense, the term also denotes the physical disciplining of children in the schools and at home.

Advocates of school corporal punishment argue that it provides an immediate response to indiscipline so that the student is quickly back in the classroom learning, unlike suspension from school.

In 2014, a student was struck in a U.S. public school an average of once every 30 seconds. As of 2024, corporal punishment is still legal in private schools in every U.S. state except New Jersey, Iowa, New York and Maryland, legal in public schools in 17 states, and practiced in 12 of the states..

Children may become more aggressive.

Children whose parents use corporal punishment are more likely to be aggressive with peers and even to become bullies. Violence has been modeled for them and is spread throughout their social circles.

Is corporal punishment a defense? ›

The prosecutor involved in a case of a parent charged with assaulting a child is typically confronted with the defense of reasonable force; prosecutors need to recognize society's tolerance of corporal punishment and teach jurors where discipline ends and child abuse begins.

Children who have been physically punished tend to exhibit high hormonal reactivity to stress, overloaded biological systems, including the nervous, cardiovascular and nutritional systems, and changes in brain structure and function.

Physical discipline, such as spanking or paddling, is not considered abuse as long as it is reasonable and causes no bodily injury to the child or youth.

While federal law does not prohibit its use except in egregious cases, state laws in many jurisdictions do ban the use of corporal punishment in schools, and state criminal and tort laws may be available to provide redress.

The states that allow corporal punishment include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

The AAP recommends that parents, schools, and caregivers refrain from using any type of physical punishment with children, including spanking and paddling in schools. The AAP policy also indicates that corporal punishment is ineffective over the long-term and leads to negative outcomes.

Punishment creates more negative behavior, and it shifts a child's focus to avoiding punishment, often by getting more skilled at not getting caught, rather than making choices based on morals, respect, or love.

Physical punishments for crimes or injuries, including floggings, brandings and even mutilations, were practised in most civilizations since ancient times. With the growth of humanitarian ideals since the Enlightenment, such punishments are increasingly viewed as inhumane in Western society.

The repeated activation of children's stress-response systems every time they are physically punished can result in allostatic load, which can in turn can lead to changes in the structure and functioning of the prefrontal cortex, the amygdala, and the hippocampus (Danese & McEwen, 2012).