FACT SHEET ON SCHOOL CORPORAL PUNISHMENT

Corporal punishment is associated with poorer academic achievement, more vandalism, more truancy, and higher dropout rates.

Over 100 nations have banned school corporal punishment. Twenty-nine states have banned it and 94 of the 100 largest U.S. school systems have done so. In many of the largest cities where corporal punishment is allowed, African-American students make up a majority of the school population.

Twenty-one states still allow corporal punishment. Over 300,000 students were hit in U.S. schools in 2002-03 according to the U.S. Department of Education.

According to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, African-American school children are disproportionately affected by corporal punishment. They are hit at twice the rate of other students, and in some large city school districts, they are hit at five times the rate of other children.

The majority of states with the most school corporal punishment also have the highest proportion of their adult population incarcerated. In 2003, about one million African American men were incarcerated.

There are psychological roots for support of corporal punishment. Corporal punishment was widely used on slaves in the U.S. Slaves, in turn, hit their own children so they would be controlled and "invisible" to slavers who might take them.

Corporal punishment is not used as a "last resort" according to many studies. It is often used as a first punishment for minor and non-violent misbehaviors.

Anger and violence can easily escalate out of control. Bruises, bleeding and broken bones are not uncommon paddling injuries.

More than fifty national organizations have called for a ban on school corporal punishment. They include the National Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Bar Association, the National PTA, the National Education Association, the Child Welfare League of America, the American Association of School Administrators and many more. The United Methodist Church, the second biggest Protestant denomination, has called for a ban on school corporal punishment.

Source: EPOCH-USA (End Physical Punishment of Children), 155 W. Main Street, #1603, Columbus, OH 43215 (614)221-8829 www.stophitting.org
Contact: Nadine Block, Co-Chair EPOCH-USA
Date: December, 2004