It is hard to believe that in the year 2021, parents are still dealing with corporal punishment in school. Teachers are still using physical punishment to redirect students who are not listening and showing “bad” behavior. This seems like something that is almost medieval, but it pops up in the media from time to time and leaves parents shocked. Spanking and parental corporal punishment do still happen, and while it may be frowned upon by many parents and medical experts, it is still widely seen as a parental choice.
However, even parents who use spanking as a punishment can usually agree that it is not the school's place to institute the same disciplinary actions. What may be even more shocking is that it is still legal in a lot of states. According to Boarding School Review, corporal punishments in school are still allowed in 19 states. This is most commonly found in states that are South, Southwest, and Midwest. Even wooden paddle discipline is still legal.
Recent Problem
As we stated, this is a recent issue and not one that was only done decades ago. According to PHYS, the most recent case that made headlines happened in May 2021, when a video captured a Florida principal using a wooden paddle on a young girl. The girl’s mother secretly captured it on film. While this did break district policy, the principal’s actions were seen as legal by the sheriff’s office as well as the state attorney’s office. This video left a lot of people wondering why this is still legal, and why it is allowed to happen in a developed country like the US.
Why Isn’t It Illegal?
This would appear like an easy question, but since laws vary so much by state, and each state is generally left to its own to institute regulations, it gets a bit complex. One example is that the use of corporal punishment can reflect the morals of the community in which the school is located. If the closer community shares the belief that children need corporal punishment to “respect” others and property then the school laws and policies tend to reflect that.
Why It Should Be Illegal
According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the practice of corporal punishment can be extremely harmful to children. It sends the message to children that the way to solve problems is by using physical force and causing pain to another person. This can make them deal with their problems the same way, and it can become a vicious cycle that has no resolution.
It can also cause fear and mistrust of adults in children, something that can be extremely dangerous in schools. When a child is young, besides their parents and families, their school teachers and administration should be the people they trust the most. It can make them not want to interact with their teachers, which can be harmful to their mental health and their development of strong relationships in the future. Corporal punishment is causing more harm than good in the students, and it is time that it comes to a complete stop.
Sources: Boarding School Review, PHYS, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry