Corporal punishment in schools is when a school official uses force to cause a child pain or discomfort as a means of discipline, and it does not require parental permission. According to the Journal of Adolescent Health, this can include such things as slapping, punching, kicking, pinching, choking, electrical shock and the use of objects including paddles, belts and pins. The ACLU and HRW report that corporal punishment is disproportionately administered to students of color and students with disabilities, even when those disabled students were displaying behavior associated with their disabilities.
In 1972, only Massachusetts and New Jersey banned corporal punishment. By 1977 Hawaii, Maine, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia prohibited it as well. In 1977 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Ingraham v. Wright that corporal punishment could be used by school officials because it is “reasonably necessary for the proper education and discipline of the child.” Since then there has been an increased outcry to ban corporal punishment. From 1978 through 1986, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and California added their names to the list of states outlawing corporal punishment.
In 1987, with the goal of eradicating corporal punishment, the National Coalition to Abolish Corporal Punishment in Schools was formed with more than 20 member groups, including the American Medical Association, the American Bar Association, the PTA and the National Center on Child Abuse Prevention. The remainder of the 1980s saw 10 more states prohibit corporal punishment, with particular movement in the upper midwest: Virginia, Oregon, Connecticut, Alaska, Wisconsin, Nebraska, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan. In the 1990s, South Dakota, Montana, Utah, West Virginia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada and Washington joined the prohibition. From 2003 to 2011, Delaware, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Mexico banned corporal punishment as well.
The "Journal of Adolescent Health" conducted a metal-analysis of research from the late 1970s to the early 2000s and concluded that corporal punishment is not effective, sends the wrong message about violence and creates an unproductive learning environment. It states that children who receive corporal punishment “are being physically and mentally abused and no data exist demonstrating that such victims develop enhanced social skills or self-control skills.” The ACLU and HRW found that, “Often, children who experience or witness physical violence will themselves develop disruptive and violent behaviors.”