History of Corporal Punishment

It had been reported that more than 200,000 U.S. children were subjected to corporal punishment in schools. Corporal punishment is legal in 21 states in the U.S. United States is the only country in the Western world that tolerates corporal punishment. Spanking is a common practice to punish a child who breaks school rules. Many American families also resort to corporal punishment to teach a child discipline and make him more obedient. There are three forms of corporal punishments:

• Parental Corporal punishment: The child is spanked by the parents or guardians.
• School Corporal Punishment: The child is subjected to corporal punishment by school teachers or school authorities.
• Judicial Corporal Punishment: The court of law orders whipping of the convicted offenders.

Corporal Punishment History
Corporal punishment has been a classic method of imparting punishment since ancient civilizations. It has not just melted out on children but adults as well. History of corporal punishment can be traced back to the Middle Ages till the 19th Century, when it was handed out as a punishment for minor crimes and unlawful acts. Flogging, a type of corporal punishment, where a person is whipped with a rod or whip, was a common practice in the British army and navy. It was abolished from the army and navy as a disciplinary action, in 1874. The last record of flogging in the British prison was in 1962.

In the United States, it was acceptable for the teachers and school authorities to spank or whip the child as a mean of disciplinary action. In 1866, a major case of corporal punishment was brought under trial. A teacher had struck the child 15-20 times with a whip. The parents of the child felt it was an unnecessary and brutal act on the teacher's part. Although, the case was closed, it made people stand up and speak against this barbaric act.

In 1868, many parents in Beverly, Massachusetts, wanted the schools to abolish corporal punishment. The school committee came up with many excuses over the years to keep corporal punishments as they believed without it the children would become more rowdy.

In 1879, an unsuccessful attempt was made by the Cambridge schools to abolish corporal punishment. In 1880, the Cambridge school board found out that out of the 12,973 boys attending the all boy's grammar school, 10,973 incidents of corporal punishment were recorded.

Corporal punishment was forbidden from being used on girls and colored schools. It was believed that girls have a different kind of mentality and flogging would scar their minds for life. White boys were subjected to this cruelty as it was thought that it would make them manlier and the process would pass down corporal punishment to their children as a form of discipline.

Sweden was the first European nation to abolish corporal punishment. It was abolished in most of Europe by the late 1800s. On 18th May 1870, New York's State Board of Education met for the second time to abolish corporal punishment. By 1877, corporal punishment ended forever from the schools of New York, as many schools started to believe that corporal punishments had an adverse effect on the child.

Corporal punishment was not abolished from the state of Massachusetts for the next 70 years. The school authorities believed that corporal punishment was the only way to discipline children and make them more studious and educated. Until the late 1970s, with formation of anti-corporal punishment groups, Massachusetts finally declared corporal punishment as illegal.

It is hard to believe that this barbaric method of disciplining a child, is still legal in many states, especially the southern states. The following table is the list of states where corporal punishment is legal or illegal.

Name of State	States Stand on Corporal Punishment
Alabama	Legal
Arizona	Legal
Arkansas	Legal
Alaska	Illegal
California	Illegal
Colorado	Legal
Connecticut	Illegal
Delaware	Illegal
District of Columbia	Illegal
Florida	Legal
Georgia	Legal
Hawaii	Illegal
Idaho	Legal
Illinosis	Illegal
Indiana	Legal
Iowa	Illegal
Kansas	Legal
Kentucky	Legal
Louisiana	Legal
Maine	Illegal
Marlyland	Illegal
Massachusetts	Illegal
Michigan	Illegal
Minnesota	Illegal
Mississippi	Legal
Missouri	Legal
Montana	Illegal
Nebraska	Illegal
Nevada	Illegal
New Hampshire	Illegal
New Jersey	Illegal
New Mexico	Legal
New York	Illegal
North Carolina	Legal
North Dakota	Illegal
Ohia	Legal
Oklahoma	Legal
Oregon	Illegal
Pennsylvania	Illegal
Rhode Island	Illegal
South Carolina	Legal
South Dakota	Illegal
Tennessee	Legal
Texas	Legal
Utah	Illegal
Vermont	Illegal
Virginia	Illegal
Washington	Illegal
West Virginia	Illegal
Wisconsin	Illegal
Wyoming	Illegal

Some states in the U.S. have banned corporal punishment by law and some by regulation. It has been found that in 2006-2007 school year, 223,190 school children in the U.S. were subjected to physical punishment. This shows an 18% drop since the early 1980s. This trend of not using corporal punishment has been steadily dropping in many states. However, there are many states which have educators and parents, still using corporal punishment as the only resort of punishment.

It has been found that poor children, minorities, children with disabilities and boys are hit more frequently. People who resort to corporal punishment do not understand that it teaches the child who receives it and the child who witnesses such acts, that violence is the answer to all problems. This increases immoral behavior, anti-social behavior and increasing number of children resort to abusive relationships in adulthood. Corporal behavior makes the child believe that physical aggression is a handy tool to eliminate unwanted behavior within the society. Many sensitive children undergo trauma, and damage their emotional and physical well-being. These children who may be suffering from learning disabilities are further traumatized because of spanking and flogging by their teachers. When children are subjected to corporal punishments by their parents, it makes them feel left out and not loved by their parents.

Children nowadays are witnessing more and more violence in their surroundings. Corporal punishment may make them accept violence as a part of their life. More children are resorting to killing sprees in their schools and surroundings. The main aim of corporal punishment laws is to put a stop to such aggressive and anti-social behavior in children. In order to stop the increase in aggressive behavior in your children, you should find alternative means to make them understand the difference between right and wrong. As violence begets violence, one should completely abolish corporal punishment as a method of punishment. Remember, in today's world, 'Spare the rod and Spoil the child' has no significance.