Corporal Punishment

Here in the Northwest, Corporal Punishment is prohibited by law, in both Oregon and Washington. However, this is not necessarily true for the rest of the United States. There are twenty jurisdictions in the United States where corporal punishment(spanking, paddling) is permitted.

There remains a philosophy that a "spanking or "paddling" will curb student defiance and misbehavior. The problem with this thinking is that many of our most vulnerable students, those with disabilities, have behaviors that are manifestations of their disability and are not within their control, thus physical punishment is ineffective. Physical punishment would at best have no "positive" effect and at worst exacerbate the problem.

Further the ACLU/Human Rights Watch reported that last year students with disabilities disproportionately were subjected to corporal punishment. Clearly the population for which this type of discipline is harmful is the very population targeted.

There is some hope on the national front. Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York is planning on introducing federal legislation to prohibit the use of corporal punishment entirely.

We as educators, parents and advocates must encourage the use of positive behavioral supports and prohibit the use of aversive discipline on our vulnerable special needs population.