View as Webpage • April 28, 2023

This Month Colorado & Idaho Became the 28th & 29th States to End Corporal Punishment in their Schools

Texas Could Have Been Next

Corporal punishment is still legal in schools in 21 states, with more than 70,000 children receiving corporal punishment during the 2017-18 school year.

Every student deserves a learning environment that fosters growth and belonging, where they are safe and free from harm. However, such a learning environment is not possible if corporal punishment is allowable under the guise of “discipline.”

Black students disproportionately receive corporal punishment in schools as well as students with disabilities, making this a key racial justice and educational equity issue. Data indicate that corporal punishment is used on children – specifically students of color – as young as 3 years old. Any student receiving corporal punishment is one student too many.

Corporal punishment hurts students’ academic outcomes.

Corporal punishment hurts students physically.

Corporal punishment can harm students’ mental and emotional well-being.

Corporal punishment is ineffective and even counterproductive as a discipline or teaching tool.

Corporal punishment teaches violence as a solution.

Corporal punishment does not teach nor lead to improved behavior. 

Corporal Punishment in Texas

Thanks to the advocacy of IDRA, our partners and individual advocates, a bill to ban corporal punishment made it to the House floor. But this week, by a vote of 58-86, the House neglected to protect children in school.

IDRA’s issue brief, Hitting Hurts: The Case for Ending Corporal Punishment in Texas, by expert Morgan Craven, J.D., distills the research on the harms of corporal punishment on children and school communities, including data on who is hit in Texas schools:

• Black Texas students are hit more than their peers
• Very young Texas children are hit in their preschools
• Texas boys are punished most
• Black boys and girls in Texas experience higher rates of punishment
• Texas students with disabilities are punished at higher rates

See our factsheet on Texas House Bill 772 that would have ended corporal punishment in Texas.

Watch the video of our testimony presented to the House Committee on Youth Health and Safety.

Read the testimony PDF here.

See if Corporal Punishment is Happening Near You

Take Action!

Speak Up!

Join advocates across the globe this Sunday to recognize the

International Day to End Corporal Punishment of Children.

Share on social media why we must end this harmful practice in schools.

Use the hashtag:

#EndCorporalPunishment

Share Your Story!

How has corporal punishment affected your family? Share your story with Morgan Craven, J.D., at morgan.craven@idra.org. 

School districts in Texas do not have to wait for the legislature.

They can elect to end the practice of corporal punishment in their own schools. In our map above you can see which districts have already done so.

Encourage Texas school districts to put a stop to corporal punishment in their schools!