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Joshua Bosveld

Macy Schimmel

Senior Writing

11/3/2020

Schools Shouldn’t allow or Incourage Corporal Punishment

A little less than half the states in the United States of America still allow corporal

punishment in their schools. This practice is not ok and should not be allowed, much less

encouraged. When schools administer corporal punishment, it is much different than when

parents do it. Corporal punishment at schools has negative side effects on children and is rarely

administered properly.

There are many negative effects and consequences when a school takes upon itself the

authority to discipline bad behaviour with corporal punishment. The first and most obvious of

these is the fact that students will feel unsafe and frightened coming to school. This is especially

true when it is younger children being punished. When a child is punished correctly by their

parents, they explain the reasoning behind the punishment and that it is in love for the child. The

problem with schools punishing students is that it is rarely done in love but rather in order to

make the child afraid of what they did. However, in most cases it just makes the offender bitter

and fearful not of the consequences but of the teacher.

Another reason that corporal punishment is not a good option is that it is preferred by

students. Some proponents of corporal punishment see this as a good thing. However, if a child

prefers it, then it is likely because it is a lighter punishment and therefore, is less effective.

Forcing someone to miss something they enjoy such as sports or work is more effective than

physical punishment (Chief, Editor in.). When physical punishment is administered the pain
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quickly goes away and the student forgets, on the other hand, missing a rare opportunity will

make them think twice about putting themselves in the situation again.

Besides being ineffective and harming students' mental health it creates less desire to

want to attend schools. While it may be swift and work initially, it will make students (especially

younger ones) afraid of attending school. If students are met with physical abuse at school they

will have no desire to attend which is already a problem among most middle and highschoolers.

Children that come from abusive homes (not homes where children are punished, but actually

abusive families) will no longer have a place to escape to (Kennedy, Robert). This could pose a

problem as for some students their only time away from home is work or school.

These ideas are not just made up by parents or students, they have been proven to be

ineffective and mostly detrimental. Corporal punishment has been shown in studies to lead to

antisocial behaviour, aggression, mental health problems, and physical harm. When a teacher

administers punishment improperly it can often be too harsh and cause actual physical harm to

students which will leave then with long lasting problems (Glicksman, Eve.). If teachers try to

justify their actions with the Bible, they may do so, but then they must act as the Bible calls

them to (Proverbs 3:11-12). This means that everything must be done out of love, not frustration

and anger and it must be explained to the child as this.

Another fairly obvious reason that corporal punishment is bad is how it is administered

and who administers it. Not all schools have guidelines for punishment which leaves it open to

what the teacher thinks is necessary. This could pose a problem if a teacher has a particular bias

toward a students and could lead to detrimental consequences. Also, some students have

difficulty focusing or paying attention because of things such as ADD and ADHD and are unable

to control it (Smith, Brendan L.). However, if teachers are unaware of this certain students will
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be punished frequently and will learn to be afraid of the teacher. A teacher cannot force those

traits out of children and attempting to do so will only cause them to have more problems.

Through all this research, we are able to see that corporal punishment in itself is not

wrong and is actually encouraged in the Bible (Proverbs 13:24). However, schools rarely have

the capability to administer it correctly. Most teachers will end up punishing students more out of

anger and frustration than love and this is neither biblically or ethically right. This will lead to

detrimental side effects that can last for life in younger students. With so many negative effects

it’s time to ban corporal punishment for good.

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Works cited

Smith, Brendan L. “The Case against Spanking.” ​Monitor on Psychology,​ American

Psychological Association, Apr. 2012, www.apa.org/monitor/2012/04/spanking.

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/04/spanking#:~:text=Many%20studies%20have%20sho

wn%20that,mental%20health%20problems%20for%20children.&text=%E2%80%9CThere

%20is%20no%20need%20for%20corporal%20punishment%20based%20on%20the%20re

search​.

Chief, Editor in. “18 Corporal Punishment Pros and Cons.” ​ConnectUS​, 10 Jan. 2019,

connectusfund.org/18-corporal-punishment-pros-and-cons.

https://connectusfund.org/18-corporal-punishment-pros-and-cons

Glicksman, Eve. “Physical Discipline Is Harmful and Ineffective.” ​Monitor on Psychology,​

American Psychological Association, May 2019,

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/physical-discipline

Kennedy, Robert. “2 Major Reasons for Banning Corporal Punishment.” ThoughtCo, 7 Mar.

2019, ​www.thoughtco.com/reasons-for-banning-corporal-punishment-2773347​.