Many people may not even be aware that corporal punishment is still allowed in North Carolina, but it is. In fact, there were 1,400 incidents of corporal punishment in North Carolina schools during the 2008-2009 school year despite the fact that minority of the state's school districts continue to use corporal punishment.
This is one of those "local control" issue we always hear about, meaning that the school district gets to decide whether to use corporal punishment or not. Notably, local jails and prisons receive no such authority. Corporal punishment is banned for all prisoners.
Perhaps the reason so many North Carolinians haven't thought much about corporal punishment in recent years is because the vast majority of school districts have banned corporal punishment outright. Sixty-nine districts have banned the practice and another twenty allow it but don't use it. Only 26 out of 115 districts still use corporal punishment and, according to a recent Action for Children report, over 50% of the incidents of corporal punishment happened in just three districts (Nash, Burke, and Robeson).
One of the strongest arguments for abolishing corporal punishment entirely (aside from fundamental human decency) relates to the issue of fairness and how it is applied. The ACLU and Human Rights Watch have published two reports in the last two years detailing the disproportionate use of corporal punishment on students of color and students with disabilities.
These reports, along with other research, also indicate that corporal punishment does nothing to encourage good behavior and, in fact, encourages aggression and feelings of insecurity at school. It cannot be doubted that the more secure a child feels in school, the better she or he will do. And yet, the ACLU/Human Rights Watch report documents that students with disabilities experienced exacerbation of physical conditions with increased pain as well as increases in aggression and self-injurious behavior because they were subject to corporal punishment at school.
That is why it was extremely encouraging in recent days to see both the North Carolina House and Senate unanimously pass House Bill 1682, "Students with Disabilities and Corporal Punishment." The bill headed to the Governor's desk on July 1st and awaits her signature. The soon-to-be law will provide parents of any child with a disability with the right to disapprove corporal punishment as a punishment option – a right that does not currently exist under federal or state law.
Equally important, the bill requires annual reporting from school districts to the Department of Public Instruction on how corporal punishment is being used in-district and on whom. This should make it easier for the district, DPI, and parents to make sure that schools do not use this punishment disproportionately on students of color or students with disabilities. The Legislature had the opportunity to make sure that at least students with disabilities are not subject to this unnecessary form of discipline any longer and they took it. Now let's just hope they will do the same for all students in the very near future!
Sarah Preston is the Legislative Counsel for the ACLU of North Carolina.
