Aug 27, 2016 3 min read

The biblical warning about sparing the rod and spoiling the child was once rigorously heeded in public schools across the country, as paddles were unsheathed for offenses as petty as chewing gum or forgetting your mailing address when called upon in class.

It’s fallen out of fashion in recent years, with 31 states prohibiting corporal punishment, following similar bans by our counterparts in Canada and Europe. Concern about litigation if an administrator or teacher became overzealous and injured a child almost certainly played a part in corporal punishment’s retreat. However, many public schools have put the paddles away and opted for other ways to punish recalcitrant students simply because a growing body of evidence suggests that hitting, slapping or whacking a child isn’t effective in curbing bad behavior and, in fact, can cause long-term harm.

Even with the majority of the country turning away from corporal punishment, and the U.S. Department of Education recommending that it not be deployed, there are still 19 states where it is allowed, the Associated Press reported in a story last week. They are mostly located in the South and Midwest, and neither Pennsylvania nor its neighbors are among them: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.

It has remained rooted in these places not because they have access to other studies that reach different conclusions. It’s merely a longstanding custom, and its use is rationalized by those who say that, hey, they were paddled in school and turned out OK.

While some might be able to make that claim, a body of research has shown that children who are subject to being hit and abused are more likely to later suffer from depression and low self-esteem, and be at risk for suicide. There are also notable disparities in how corporal punishment is administered – the Children’s Defense Fund pored over Education Department data and found in a 2014 report that black children were twice as likely to be on the receiving end of corporal punishment than their white peers, and eight times more likely than their Hispanic classmates.

Dennis Parker, the director of the racial justice program of the American Civil Liberties Union told AP, “You want to keep kids in the classroom, but to suggest that the only way to keep them in is to beat them with a stick is ludicrous. Paddling can cause pain, humiliation, and in some cases deep bruising or other lasting physical or mental injury.”

The ACLU has been joined in its opposition to corporal punishment by the likes of American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association and American Medical Association.

These organizations, and other opponents of corporal punishment, suggest there are other, more effective ways of disciplining students, such as character education and conflict-resolution programs and peer courts.

Despite the admonition about sparing the rod, it’s against the law for adults to hit someone they are arguing with, whether it’s someone at a bar or their spouse, and it’s forbidden to beat prisoners or mental patients. Why should hitting children be OK?