Twenty-two states in the United States allow some type of corporal punishment in schools, however, these states provide the local school board to determine if corporal punishment is allowed. Therefore, even though hitting may be allowed within your state, your local school district may not allow it. (Familyeducation.com publishes a list of states that allow corporal punishment as well as those states that have enacted laws to ban it in schools.)

How To Find Out

Parents are not always sure whether hitting or spanking is allowed in their school and for many parents the question does not come up until their child arrives home either with bruises or telling the parent about an incident. Parents, however, can take steps to make sure they understand a school’s policy.

• Request a copy of the discipline policy for your school from the principal.
• Request a copy of the discipline policy from your local board of education.
• Contact your state Department of Education to request a copy of your state’s laws regarding discipline in school.

Many times the discipline code for a school district is published annually and provided to all students in the Student Handbook, normally sent home with students in the first few days of the school year. 

Parents should take the time to review the discipline policies within their school district and understand the state laws regarding corporal punishment.

What Parents Can Do

According to Dawn Trautwein, an advocate at All About Kids Advocacy, all parents have the right to request the school not use corporal punishment on their child, however, school districts are not required to comply with this request. If corporal punishment is considered to be a regular discipline policy, children are not always granted exemptions. For example, a parent may request that their child not be given a detention, but that does not necessarily mean the school must comply if the child has done something that would require detention according to the school policy. Corporal punishment, when included in the school district policy of discipline, may be carried out by the school, despite parental requests. However, some school districts may be willing to find alternative discipline measures if a parent provides a written request. You will need to find out the specific policy in your school district.