Rural schools account for 51% of the enrollment in U.S. schools that use corporal punishment

Corporal punishment still exists in schools in 21 states, especially in rural areas, Sarah D. Sparks and Alex Harwin report for Education Week. Their investigation found that in the 2013-14 school year. corporal punishment was used on 109,000 students. Rural students "account for 51 percent of enrollment in schools where at least one student was physically punished in 2013-14," they report. Conversely, rural students made up only 17 percent of students in schools where corporal punishment is not allowed. (Education Week graphic: Schools where corporal punishment was reported in 2013-14)

Students eligible for school-meal programs because of their families' low incomes are more likely to attend schools that allow corporal punishment, Sparks and Harwin report. "Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Oklahoma physically disciplined the most students in 2013-14—though the practice continues to be the most widespread in Mississippi, where more than half of students attend schools that use paddling and other physical discipline. But students were physically punished even in a few states that prohibit the practice."

Black students are more likely to receive corporal punishment, the reporters write. "White students made up about 50 percent of all those who experienced corporal punishment—but they made up about 60 percent of the student population in their schools. Black students, by contrast, made up 22 percent of all students attending schools using corporal punishment, but 38 percent of those who received such discipline nationwide." (Chart: Schools with no reported cases of corporal punishment in 2013-14)

"Corporal punishment is often seen by proponents as a good alternative to suspending students," Sparks and Harwin write. "But in a field that requires specialized certification for all manner of programs and subjects, corporal punishment stands out for the virtual nonexistence of training or detailed procedures on how to paddle children of different sizes, ages, or psychological profiles. And in the absence of such training or guidance, the practice can leave students more vulnerable to injury and districts at greater risk of expensive lawsuits." (Read more)

Parents spanking children: research, prevalence, possible effects

In 2012, more than 70 percent of Americans agreed that "it is sometimes necessary to discipline a child with a good, hard spanking," according to a study sponsored by the National Science Foundation under the direction of Tom W. Smith, Richard V. Reeves and Emily Cuddy write for Brookings. Corporal punishment is still permitted in 19 states. Usually the goal is to correct bad behavior through physical punishment, which is generally quite effective short term. But what are the long term effects?

Some research studies show that children spanked often are more likely to develop mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and alcohol and drug abuse. Physical punishment may teach a child to associate violence with power over others. Important to note is that these studies deal with how regular and/or severe physical punishment correlates with child behavior.

Other studies indicate that corporal punishment is linked to decreased cognitive ability in early childhood. For example, a 2009 study within the National Longitudinal Study of Youth showed that children who received little or no corporal punishment gained cognitive ability more quickly than the children who were spanked. However, the reason for this may be that "parents who spank their children may be weaker parents overall, and spanking is simply one way in which this difference in parenting quality manifests itself," Reeves and Cuddy write.

According to a study using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a significant gap in parenting quality does not exist between those who do and don't hit their children. However, most studies show that spanking "becomes problematic with increased frequency and/or intensity," Reeves and Cuddy report. A significant difference exists between spanking a child once per month and spanking multiple times per day and between spanking lightly with an open hand and spanking aggressively with a belt.

Overall, the writers suggest that U.S. policy-makers focus on encouraging positive parenting behavior such as reading to children rather than focusing on spanking prevention. Many child development experts believe that "alternatives to spanking can be just as effective in terms of regulating behavior," Reeves and Cuddy write. (Read more)

Paddling remains legal in all or part of 19 states; critics say minorities, disabled bear the brunt

While some may view paddling in schools as a long-abandoned practice, corporal punishment remains legal in 19 states, mostly in rural areas. Paddling continues to have its fair share of critics, who say corporal punishment harms students mentally and physically, while studies say the majority of corporal punishment "is used disproportionately on minority students and those with mental, physical and emotional disabilities," Rachel Chason reports for USA Today. But some in rural areas say the practice not only works, but is supported by parents. (Map: Paddling is legal in red states)

The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights says the number of students paddled has decreased in recent years, from 342,038 in 2000 to 217,814 in 2009-10, Chason writes. And five counties, three in Florida and two in North Carolina, have banned paddling for this school year.

"A 2008 Human Rights Watch report showed that although African-American students made up 17.1 percent of the student population nationwide, they made up 35.6 percent of those paddled," Chason writes. "The report also notes that children with disabilities in Texas made up 10.7 percent of the student population in the 2006-07 school year, but accounted for 18.4 percent of those paddled."

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) who has reintroduced a public-school paddling ban each year since 2010, told Chason, "Most people don't even know that corporal punishment is still going on in this country. It's not just harmful physically but also psychologically. There are so many other ways of handling discipline."

The states with the highest number of students being paddled are Mississippi, Texas and Alabama; a report by the Office of Civil Rights said more than 100,000 students were paddled in those states during the 2009-10 school year, Chason writes. George Holden, a psychology professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, "said those numbers are mostly coming from smaller, rural districts. He said the practice is banned in Texas's largest cities: Houston, San Antonio and Dallas." He calls paddling "counterproductive," saying it has negative long-term effects, making "students angry, less likely to communicate with teachers and less motivated to succeed."

But some rural school districts say paddling has had positive results, Chason writes. "In Coffee County, located in southeast Georgia, Superintendent Morris Leis said his school district allows paddling because it's an effective form of punishment." Leis told her, "We won't paddle a student if a parent doesn't want us to, but we don't get a lot of complaints." (Read more)