Banning Corporal Punishment For the Sake of the Children

One major problem in our nation is the existence of corporal punishment in both private and public schools. Presently, there are still 22 states (mostly in the South and Midwest) that enforce corporal punishment in some form in order to discipline children in school. The states that still allow the use of corporal punishment are (in alphabetical order) Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), corporal punishment is administered in schools approximately 1 to 2 million times a year in this country (Shidler, 2001).

Many experts believe the practice of paddling on the behind began during the time of slavery. Over the centuries it was also acceptable for husbands to strike their wives, and officers to flog their soldiers (Lopez, 2006). Children were considered property for centuries, “and as such they could be done with as the “owners” deemed proper. In fact families had the right to kill their own children in colonial times,” (Lopez, 2006). It was not until the Civil War that these attitudes began to change and first state to ban corporal punishment in schools was New Jersey during the 1860s (Lopez, 2006).

Several countries including Austria, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Cyprus, Denmark, Ukraine  Hungary have banned the corporal punishment of children entirely (Wikipedia, 2006). In the United States, children remain the only set of individuals who can be legally hit. In fact, prisoners and soldiers are better protected from abuse than the average grade-school student. and

Research suggests physical discipline in schools can have many negative effects on children. Children who are spanked risk facing long-term harm that outweighs the short-term advantage of on the spot obedience. According to an article in Current Events in September 2000, “The AAP believes that corporal punishment may adversely affect a student’s self-image and school achievement,” (“Should All Schools,” p. 3). Corporal punishment can also promote violence as acceptable behavior for children. Violence can be learned at an early age and once a child has experienced or witnessed violence, he is likely to imitate this type of behavior throughout his life. He is likely to view violence as a means of solving conflict (Shidler, 2001). According to Gershoff (2002), corporal punishment has also been associated with “increases in feelings of humiliation and helplessness” (p.3).