• By Morgan Craven, J.D. • October 2023 •
In May 2023, U.S. Representatives Lucy McBath, Suzanne Bonamici, Gwen Moore, Frederica Wilson and Senator Chris Murphy introduced the Protecting our Students in Schools Act, a federal bill to prohibit corporal punishment in schools across the country.
In the 2017-18 school year, nearly 70,000 students – some as young as preschool age – were paddled, spanked and hit in their schools (Craven, 2022). Black students and students with disabilities are disproportionately hit and punished, making ending corporal punishment and ensuring robust protections at the federal level a pressing civil rights issue (Craven, 2022).
About 20 states still allow corporal punishment in schools even though mountains of evidence show the practice harms children and school climates in a number of ways. Many of these states have banned corporal punishment in other settings – like juvenile detention centers, foster care facilities, jails and prisons – because of the harm hitting can cause to young people.
Despite the evidence of harm to children, many school districts and states are doubling down on their efforts to cling to outdated forms of violence over the well-being of children in schools.
For example, in 2023 Texas lawmakers voted down a bill that would prohibit corporal punishment in schools. Opponents of the bill emphasized they believed it was important for children to feel fear in schools and cited their religious beliefs to justify protecting a practice that child welfare, pediatric, mental health, educational and legal organizations have repeatedly opposed.* Shortly after the bill was defeated, Principal Jeffery Hogg in Texas’ Overton High School was arrested for hitting a child so hard she suffered injuries that a pediatrician confirmed were consistent with child abuse.
Corporal punishment has no pedagogical or instructional value and serves no safety purpose in schools. Physically hurting students has negative impacts on individual students and entire school climates. The unnecessary practice can also compromise the trusting relationships that are critical for school safety.
Corporal punishment hurts students’ academic outcomes. Research shows that corporal punishment in schools can limit the academic achievement and success of the students being punished and the students who see their peers punished (Dupper & Dingus, 2008; Hyman, 1996). Other analyses show negative impacts on cognitive functioning, lower performance on tests and lower grade point averages for students who are hit in their schools (MacKenzie, et al., 2012; American Psychological Association, 2021).
Corporal punishment hurts students physically. The stated purpose of corporal punishment is to physically hurt students and, sadly, this is the only thing the practice does. Students can experience significant physical injury when they are hit, spanked, slapped or paddled, including cuts, bruises and broken bones (Gershoff, et al., 2015).
Corporal punishment can harm students’ mental and emotional well-being. Students who are hit in front of their peers may experience trauma and low self-esteem (Greydanus, et al., 2003). They can be emotionally humiliated, feel unsafe and disempowered, and struggle with life-long depression (Gershoff, 2017). Harsh physical punishment can also lead to other mental health and substance abuse disorders (Afifi, et al., 2017; Afifi, et al., 2012).
Corporal punishment is ineffective and even counterproductive as a discipline or teaching tool. Hitting children does not teach good behavior, it may do the opposite. Research shows that corporal punishment does not improve behaviors, may exacerbate behavioral challenges, and in some cases is used when students are exhibiting completely normal, age-appropriate behaviors (Gershoff, 2018). When schools rely on corporal punishment, they are proven research-based strategies that support students and promote safer school climates.
Corporal punishment teaches violence as a solution. Schools that model violence as a way to address conflict (real or perceived) grant permission for students to use violence, as young people and later as adults. This can compromise interpersonal relationships (Terk, 2010) and perpetuate a culture where physical violence, particularly against people of color and people with disabilities who are disproportionately hit in school, is seen as acceptable.
State-sanctioned violence cannot continue in schools and states. Federal lawmakers and agencies have a responsibility to protect all children from physical harm, and we call on policymakers to immediately:
IDRA urges school districts and states to adopt policies and practices that center the well-being and safety of students.
