Corporal Punishment is Declining in Southern School Districts: Is It Time to Abolish the Paddle in Louisiana Schools?

Corporal punishment has been a part of public education since colonial times. Traditionally, educators have enjoyed a legal privilege to administer corporal punishment to students as a means of maintaining discipline and order, and they could do so whether or not the parents consented. 

Attitudes are changing about corporal punishment, however. Over the past 40 years, states have gradually abolished the practice of paddling students in schools. In 1976, a million and a half kids were paddled in the nation’s schools, according to the Center for Effective Discipline.1 Today, that number has dropped to below 200,000. Thirty-nine states have abolished corporal punishment by law in public schools.