One day in the spring of 2016, Kemyriah Patie, a first-grader at Fair Elementary School in Louisville, Mississippi, was accused of saying something inappropriate to another student.
Three teachers administered the punishment. Two held Kemyriah down while a third used a wooden paddle to strike her repeatedly on the backside and legs. Her mother, Shawanda Patie, found out about it after school that day. When she saw bruises all over the backs of her daughter’s legs, she took her to the emergency room.
“I was in an outrage,” Patie says. “My baby couldn’t walk right for a week and a half.”
Physical punishment—also called corporal punishment—is legal in schools in 22 states today (see map, below). While its use is declining, it still happens more than many people realize. According to the U.S. Department of Education, about 110,000 students were physically punished—usually paddled—in school during the 2013-14 year, the most recent school year for which data is available.
While the supporters of corporal punishment say it’s an effective way to discipline students who act out, critics have sought to end the practice. They say it’s cruel and sends kids the wrong message about the use of violence.
It was a spring day in 2016. Kemyriah Patie, a first-grader at Fair Elementary School in Louisville, Mississippi, was accused of saying something improper to another student.
Three teachers gave out the punishment. Two held Kemyriah down. A third used a wooden paddle to strike her repeatedly on the backside and legs. Kemyriah’s mother, Shawanda Patie, found out about it after school that day. When she saw bruises all over the backs of her daughter’s legs, she took her to the emergency room.
“I was in an outrage,” Patie says. “My baby couldn’t walk right for a week and a half.”
Physical punishment is also called corporal punishment. It is legal in schools in 22 states today (see map, below). Its use is declining, but it still happens more than many people realize. According to the U.S. Department of Education, about 110,000 students were physically punished in school during the 2013-14 year. That is the most recent school year for which data is available. The students were usually paddled.
Supporters of corporal punishment say it is an effective way to discipline students who act out. But critics have looked for ways to end the practice. They say it is cruel and sends kids the wrong message about the use of violence.