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Does corporal punishment take place in schools in the US?

Corporal punishment in the U.S. is still legal in 19 states (as of 2014; it was banned in 2009 in Ohio and New Mexico in 2011), though that does not mean that the practice is widely employed in the states that allow it. A state like Texas employs corporal punishment more frequently than others. Most of the states that allow the practice are located in the South, with states like Idaho, Wyoming, Indiana, Arizona and others on the list as well.


Corporal punishment allows teachers and principals to hit students, often repeatedly, and often without the consent of parents. The punishment is often used as an alternative to detention, though corporal punishment can be used in addition to detention.


There is great controversy surrounding the practice of corporal punishment, with many behavioral professionals and those in the field of human psychology insisting that any physical punishment, whether in the home or at school, teaches the child that violence is an acceptable form of human interaction. Psychologists like the late Alice Miller and many others consider any physical punishment of children as abusive and ultimately damaging to the child's sense of safety and well-being, and claim the practice does not serve as an effective deterrent of bad behavior, but in fact leads to further unwanted behavioral issues.

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