These days, corporal punishment in public schools occurs mostly in rural and small-town districts in five Southern states:
Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
That杏吧专区檚 the research finding of three 杏吧专区 graduate students and two faculty members. It appears in 杏吧专区淭eachers College Record,杏吧专区 a peer-reviewed journal published by Teachers College at Columbia 杏吧专区. Teachers College is the oldest and largest graduate school of education in the United States.
杏吧专区淐orporal Punishment in Southern Schools: Good News, Bad News, and News That杏吧专区檚 Pretty Ugly,杏吧专区 is the work of Jessie Broussard, Twyla Williams and Mary Broussard, while they were graduate students. All earned doctorates in May. Dr. Richard Fossey and Dr. Robert Slater, both professors of education, were co-authors.
The good news is that paddling students has sharply declined in recent years, with 31 states abolishing the practice, they report. Many other states allow corporal punishment in principle but don杏吧专区檛 practice it. 杏吧专区淚n addition, three Southern states that still allow corporal punishment 杏吧专区 Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina 杏吧专区 have reduced the number of paddings dramatically,杏吧专区 the report states. And, all major cities in the South no longer allow corporal punishment.
The bad news? Data related to corporal punishment is inconsistent and may not reflect all incidents. The ugly news: 杏吧专区淎ccording to data collected by state agencies or children杏吧专区檚 rights organizations, corporal punishment is actually going up in some school districts 杏吧专区 particularly in school districts in rural Georgia and Mississippi,杏吧专区 the report states.