School corporal punishment in the United States

Legality of corporal punishment of minors in the United States as of December 2015:[1]
  Corporal punishment prohibited in schools and the home
  Corporal punishment prohibited in schools only
  Corporal punishment not prohibited

Corporal punishment is defined as causing deliberate bodily pain or discomfort in response to some undesired behavior. In schools in the United States, this punishment often takes the form of either a teacher or school principal striking the student's buttocks with a wooden paddle (sometimes called "spanking").[2] The practice was held constitutional in the 1977 Supreme Court case Ingraham v. Wright, where the Court held that the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment did not apply to disciplinary corporal punishment in public schools, being restricted to the treatment of prisoners convicted of a crime.[3] Part of the rationale for the Court's decision was that there was at the time no movement towards prohibition of the practice by the states; in 1977, only 2 states had laws prohibiting corporal punishment in schools. In the years since, a number of other states have enacted similar bans.[2]

Individual US states have the power to ban corporal punishment in their schools. The first state to abolish school corporal punishment was New Jersey in 1867. The second was Massachusetts, 104 years later in 1971. As of 2015, corporal punishment is banned in state schools (known as public schools in the U.S.) in 31 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (see list below).[4] In two of these states, New Jersey[5] and Iowa,[6] it is illegal in private schools as well. The 19 states that have not banned it are in the South and, to a lesser extent, the Mid-West. It is still used to a significant (though declining)[7] degree in some public schools in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. The most recent state to outlaw school corporal punishment was New Mexico in 2011.[4]

Most urban public school systems, even in states where it is permitted, have abolished corporal punishment. Statistics collected by the federal government show that the use of corporal punishment in schools has been gradually declining. According to the United States Department of Education, 272,028 public school children were physically punished during the 2004-2005 school year. Overall, African-American students were more likely than either White or Hispanic students to be physically punished, by 2.5 times and 6.5 times, respectively, and boys were 3.4 times more likely than girls to be physically punished in school.[2]

Overview

According to the Department of Education, over 166,000 students in public schools were physically punished during the 2011–2012 school year. The majority of these students reside in the Southern United States; Department of Education data from 2011–2012 show that 70 percent of students subjected to corporal punishment were from the five states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas, with the latter two states accounting for 35 percent of corporal punishment cases.[8] According to the data, African-American students make up about 16% of all public school students but 35% of those receiving corporal punishment. According to the Washington Post, this has resulted in corporal punishment becoming a routine occurrence in some majority-Black school districts.[9] Overall, according to the Post, a student is hit in a U.S. public school an average of once every 30 seconds.[10]

Previous statistics showed that black and Hispanic students were more likely to be paddled than white students;[7][11] however, a study in Kentucky found that minority students were disproportionately targeted by discipline policies generally, not only corporal punishment.[12]

The United States Department of Education's Civil Rights Data Collection for 2006 also shows that students with disabilities are subjected to corporal punishment at disproportionately high rates for their share of the population, according to a report jointly authored by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union.[13] Representative Carolyn McCarthy remarked in a 2010 congressional hearing that students with disabilities are subjected to corporal punishment at "approximately twice the rate of the general student population in some States".[14]

The United States' National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) opposes the use of corporal punishment in schools, defined as the deliberate infliction of pain in response to students' unacceptable behaviour and/or language. In articulating their opposition, they cite the disproportionate use of corporal punishment on Black students in the US; potential adverse effects on students' self-image and school achievement; correlation between school corporal punishment and increased truancy, drop-out rates, violence, and vandalism by youth; the potential for misuse and/or injury to students; and increased legal liability for schools.[15]

The NASSP notes that the use of corporal punishment in schools is inconsistent with laws regarding child abuse as well as policies toward "racial, economic, and gender equity", asserting that "Fear of pain or embarrassment has no place" in the process of education. The NASSP recommends a range of alternatives to corporal punishment, including "appropriate instruction", "behavioral contracts", "positive reinforcement", and "individual and group counseling" where necessary.[15]

Public-opinion research has found that most Americans are not in favor of school corporal punishment; in polls taken in 2002 and 2005, American adults were respectively 72% and 77% opposed to the use of corporal punishment by teachers.[16] A bill to end the use of corporal punishment in schools was introduced into the United States House of Representatives in June 2010 during the 111th Congress.[17][18] The bill, H.R. 5628,[19] was referred to the United States House Committee on Education and Labor where it was not brought up for a vote. A previous bill "to deny funds to educational programs that allow corporal punishment"[20] was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives in 1991 by Representative Major R. Owens. That bill, H.R. 1522, did not become law. A new bill, the Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act of 2015 (HR 2268) would prohibit all corporal punishment, defined as “paddling, spanking, or other forms of physical punishment, however light, imposed upon a student”. As of May 12, 2015, the bill is in the Committee stage.[21]

List of U.S. states outlawing corporal punishment in schools

See also

References

  1. ↑ Anderson, Melissa (15 December 2015). "Where Teachers Are Still Allowed to Spank Students". The Atlantic.
  2. 1 2 3 Gershoff, E.T. (2008). Report on Physical Punishment in the United States: What Research Tells Us About Its Effects on Children (PDF). Columbus, OH: Center for Effective Discipline.
  3. ↑ Oluwole, Joseph (23 September 2014). "Ingraham v. Wright". Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  4. 1 2 Lyman, Rick (30 September 2006)."In Many Public Schools, the Paddle Is No Relic". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ United States - Extracts from State legislation at World Corporal Punishment Research.
  6. ↑ Iowa statutes, 280.21.
  7. 1 2 "Corporal Punishment and Paddling Statistics by State and Race", Center for Effective Discipline.
  8. ↑ Anderson, Melinda (15 December 2015). "Where Teachers Are Still Allowed to Spank Students". The Atlantic.
  9. ↑ Harlan, Chico (19 October 2015). “In this part of the United States, principals still legally hit students”. The Washington Post.
  10. ↑ Strauss, Valerie (18 September 2014). "19 states still allow corporal punishment in school". The Washington Post.
  11. ↑ Gregory, J.F. (1995). "Crime of punishment: Racial and gender disparities in the use of corporal punishment in U.S. public schools". Journal of Negro Education. Journal of Negro Education. 64 (4): 454–462. doi:10.2307/2967267. JSTOR 2967267. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
  12. ↑ Richart, David; Brooks, Kim; Soler, Mark. "Unintended Consequences: The Impact of 'Zero Tolerance' and Other Exclusionary Policies on Kentucky Students", report prepared by the National Institute on Children, Youth & Families at Spalding University in Louisville, KY; the Children's Law Center in Covington, KY; and the Youth Law Center in Washington, D.C.
  13. ↑ "Corporal Punishment in Schools and Its Effect on Academic Success". Human Rights Watch, American Civil Liberties Union. 15 April 2010. Retrieved November 2015. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  14. ↑ "Chair McCarthy Statement at Subcommittee Hearing on 'Corporal Punishment in Schools and Its Effect on Academic Success'" (PDF). U.S. House of Representatives Education & Labor Committee. 15 April 2010. Retrieved November 2015. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  15. 1 2 "Corporal punishment". National Association of Secondary School Principals. February 2009.
  16. ↑ Gershoff, Elizabeth T. (Spring 2010). "More Harm Than Good: A Summary of Scientific Research on the Intended and Unintended Effects of Corporal Punishment on Children". Law & Contemporary Problems. Duke University School of Law. 73 (2): 31–56.
  17. ↑ Vagins, Deborah J. (3 July 2010). "An Arcane, Destructive — and Still Legal — Practice." The Huffington Post.
  18. ↑ McCarthy, Carolyn (2010). Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy Introduces Legislation to End Corporal Punishment in Schools. 29 June 2010.
  19. ↑ H.R. 5628, 111th Congress, 2d Session.
  20. ↑ H.R. 1522, 102d Congress, 1st Session.
  21. ↑ "Country report for USA" (November 2015). 'Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children.
  22. ↑ Chapman, Stephen (28 April 1994). "Singapore's Form Of Punishment Has Its Place In America". Chicago Tribune. This year, Illinois has a new law that prohibits public schools from 'slapping, paddling or prolonged maintenance of students in painful positions' or anything else causing 'bodily harm.'
  23. ↑ 2013 New Jersey Revised Statutes: Title 18A – EDUCATION – Section 18A:6-1 – Corporal punishment of pupils. Justia.
  24. ↑ Cohen, Adam (1 October 2012). "Why Is Paddling Still Allowed in Schools?" Time (New York).
  25. ↑ Star-Ledger Editorial Board (18 February 2011). "Time to eliminate corporal punishment in classrooms". nj.com.
  26. ↑ The Ohio ban was signed into law by then-Governor Ted Strickland on 17 July 2009, and enforcement of the ban began on 15 October 2009. "Ohio Bans School Corporal Punishment", Center for Effective Discipline, 23 July 2009.
  27. ↑ (banned by administrative rule R277-608)"States Banning Corporal Punishment", Center for Effective Discipline.

External links

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