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U.S.: Corporal Punishment and Paddling Statistics by State and Race
States Banning Corporal Punishment
| State | Year | Present Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 1989 | AK Statutes Section 04AAC 07.010 |
| California | 1986 | CA Education Code Section 49000-49001 |
| Connecticut | 1989 | CT Penal Code Sec. 53a-18 |
| Delaware | 2003 | DE Education Code Sec. 702 |
| Hawaii | 1973 | HI Rev. Statutes Sec. 302A-1141 |
| Illinois | 1993 | IL Compiled Statutes, School Code Sec. 5/24-24 |
| Iowa | 1989 | IA School Code Sec. 280.21 |
| Maine | 1975 | ME Criminal Code Sec. 106 |
| Maryland | 1993 | MD Code Education Sec. 7-306 |
| Massachusetts | 1971 | MA General Laws , Education Sec. 37G |
| Michigan | 1989 | MI Compiled Laws, Rev. School Code Sec. 380.1312 |
| Minnesota | 1989 | MN Statutes Sec. 121A.58 |
| Montana | 1991 | MT Code Annotated Sec. 20-4-302 |
| Nebraska | 1988 | NE Rev. Statutes Sec. 79-295 |
| Nevada | 1993 | NV Rev. Statutes Sec 392.4633 |
| New Hampshire | 1983 | NH Rev. Statutes Ann. Sec. 627:6 |
| New Jersey | 1867 | NJ Permanent Statutes, Education 18A:6-1 |
| New York | 1985 | NY Regulations of the Board of Regents, 8 NYCRR 19.5 |
| North Dakota | 1989 | ND Century Code, Elem. and Sec. Education Sec. 15.1-19-02 |
| Oregon | 1989 | OR Rev. Statutes Sec. 339.250 |
| Pennsylvania | 2005 | 22 PA Code CHS. 7 and l2, Sec. l2.5 |
| Rhode Island | 1977 | Wolfweseder v. Woonsocket, Commissioner of Education |
| South Dakota | 1990 | SD Codified Laws, Sec. 13-32-2 |
| Utah | 1992 | UT Administrative Rule R277-608 |
| Vermont | 1985 | VT Statutes, Education Sec. 1161a |
| Virginia | 1989 | VA Code, Education Sec. 22.1-279.1 |
| Washington | 1993 | WA Administrative Code 180-40-235 |
| West Virginia | 1994 | WV Code Sec. 18A-5-1 (e) |
| Wisconsin | 1988 | WI Statute Sec. 118.31 |
STATES WITH LIMITED BANS:
| State | Year | Present Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Ohio | 1994 | ORC 3319.41 (A) (B) (D) Corporal punishment is banned unless a school board follows several procedures before voting to allow corporal punishment. Parents in districts which allow it may refuse to have their children paddled. |
*Dates listed are when the law was enacted, unless otherwise noted.
Some states banned corporal punishment by law and some by regulation. Some states banned corporal punishment by removing permission for its use. Contact info@stophitting.org for specific information.
Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools
2006-2007 School Year: data released March, 2008
In the 2006-2007 school year, 223,190 school children in the U.S. were subjected to physical punishment. This is a significant drop of almost 18%, continuing a steady trend from the early 1980's.
|
State |
Number of Students Hit |
Percentage of Total Students |
|
Alabama |
33,716 |
4.5 |
|
Arkansas |
22,314 |
4.7 |
|
Arizona |
16 |
<0.0 |
|
Colorado |
8 |
<0.0 |
|
Florida |
7,185 |
.3 |
|
Georgia |
18,249 |
1.1 |
|
Idaho |
111 |
.04 |
|
Indiana |
577 |
.05 |
|
Kansas |
50 |
.01 |
|
Kentucky |
2,209 |
.3 |
|
Louisiana |
11,080 |
1.7 |
|
Missouri |
5,159 |
.6 |
|
Mississippi |
38,131 |
7.5 |
|
North Carolina |
2,705 |
.2 |
|
New Mexico |
705 |
.2 |
|
Ohio |
672 |
.04 |
|
Oklahoma |
14,828 |
2.3 |
|
South Carolina |
1,409 |
.2 |
|
Tennessee |
14,868 |
1.5 |
|
Texas |
49,197 |
1.1 |
The 10 worst states, by percentage of students struck by educators in the 2006-2007 school year:
|
Rank |
State |
Percentage |
|
1 |
Mississippi |
7.5 |
|
2 |
Arkansas |
4.7 |
|
3 |
Alabama |
4.5 |
|
4 |
Oklahoma |
2.3 |
|
5 |
Louisiana |
1.7 |
|
6 |
Tennessee |
1.5 |
|
7 |
Texas |
1.1 |
|
8 |
Georgia |
1.1 |
|
9 |
Missouri |
.6 |
|
10 |
Florida |
.3 |
Notes:
- African-American students comprise 17% of all public school students in the U.S., but are 36% of those who have corporal punishment inflicted on them, more than twice the rate of white students.
- Almost 40% of all the cases of corporal punishment occur in just two states: Texas and Mississippi, and if we add Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia, these five states account for almost three quarters of all the nation’s school paddlings.
Number of Students Struck Each Year in U.S. Public Schools
| YEAR | # WHITE % | # BLACK % | TOT. KIDS HIT % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 992,675 65 | 447,314 29 | 1,521,896 3.5 |
| 1978 | 940,467 65 | 411,271 29 | 1,438,317 3.4 |
| 1980 | 901,032 64 | 403,386 29 | 1,408,303 3.4 |
| 1982 | no statistical projection was made this year | ||
| 1984 | 852,427 64 | 374,315 28 | 1,332,317 3.3 |
| 1986 | 659,224 60 | 345,411 31 | 1,099,731 2.7 |
| 1988 | 549,572 61 | 255,296 28 | 898,370 2.2 |
| 1990 | 346,488 56 | 208,543 34 | 613,760 1.5 |
| 1992 | 295,050 53 | 215,684 39 | 555,531 1.3 |
| 1994 | 256,363 54 | 182,394 39 | 470,683 1.1 |
| 1997 | 241,406 53 | 178,114 39 | 457,754 1.0 |
| 1998 | 199,572 55 | 135,523 37 | 365,058 0.8 |
| 2000 | 181,689 53 | 132,065 39 | 342,038 0.7 |
| 2003 | 159,446 53 | 115,819 38 | 301,016 0.6 |
| 2004 | 143,002 53 | 104,627 38 | 272,028 0.57 |
| 2006 | 119,339 53 | 79,613 36 | 223,190 0.46 |
About the Study:
The above data and more can be found at the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights website on this page:
http://ocrdata.ed.gov/ocr2006rv30/wdsdata.html
The above state and national totals are statistical projections. Within each state you may find the data reported by your local school district, if it was one of the 6,000 districts asked for hard data. If your district is not listed, it was not surveyed or failed to report survey data.
Here is how to look up specific school districts on the Department of Education website:
Process for looking up Office for Civil Rights corporal punishment stats for school districts:
Here’s how to find corporal punishment data for schools districts (from the year 2006). Data is not available for every school district in a state as the study uses sampling data:
- Begin at the Office for Civil Rights : http://ocrdata.ed.gov/ocr2006rv30/wdsdata.html
- Click on “View the Data”
- Choose the first table under “Reported Data” (07A/08A) “Student enrollment…”
- To choose data for a state, scroll down the list and choose which state you are interested in. To choose a specific school or district, select the district/school name.
- Once you have made your selection, click on “Data Categories” from the “Select Dimensions” menu. Make your selection from the available data types.
- Continue down the “Select Dimensions” menu, adding whatever information you would like to see on the report, i.e. race/ethnicity, gender, etc.
- When you have finished selecting from all available data, click on the
icon in the top left corner.
Compiled By:
Center for Effective Discipline
155 W. Main Street, Suite 1603
Columbus, Ohio 43215
tel: (614)221-8829
www.stophitting.com