One thing that all Peace Corps volunteers seem to agree on is that corporal punishment is wrong, particularly in schools and rightfully so. Research shows that corporal punishment is not only ineffective but also harmful. While we agree that corporal punishment does not effectively address classroom behavioral issues, many volunteers do not have a firm understanding of corporal punishment in their own country.
The reality of corporal punishment today reflects the history and societal values of the United States. In 1852, Horace Mann, Secretary of State in Massachusetts, lobbied for public education to all children and by 1910 attendance at public school was mandatory. From the outset, teachers and schools struggled with student discipline. The use of corporal punishment in the classroom at this time was widespread and reflected societal views on children and punishment found in the home. The use of corporal punishment only increased as children began spending more time at school and teachers largely became the primary stewards of socialization. Increased class sizes over the years made corporal punishment even more pervasive.
The Five Senses : No. V, Touching (1854) - A child goes to the teacher for a flogging.
In the second half of the twentieth century, an increased understanding of psychology and psychological problems both inside and outside the classroom lead to a change in opinion for many Americans. In some states healthcare professionals, parents and educators pushed for disciplinary methods in schools to reflect these new notions and corporal punishment was outlawed in several states across the U.S. This shift in opinion did not affect each part of the country in equal measure and to this day, many states have not outlawed corporal punishment. As a general statement, it can be said that the use of corporal punishment in the United States has decreased over the last several decades. It would not be accurate to say that corporal punishment has been eradicated or that we have moved past it as an educational issue.
In 1989, the United Nation’s Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 8 defined ‘corporal’ or ‘physical’ punishment as, "any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light." The vast majority of nations around the world have signed and ratified this document; the United States, on the other hand, signed it but to this day has not ratified it meaning it has no legal binding.
Additionally, there is still no comprehensive definition of corporal punishment under U.S. federal law. Each state is free to define and regulate its use as it sees fit and today corporal punishment is legal in 19 states. According to the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, more than 106,000 children were physically punished at public schools during the 2013-14 school year, the most recent year for which national data estimates are available.
Students who received corporal punishment by state between 2013-2014
Where corporal punishment is legal it is not applied equally. Students of color and students with disabilities are physically punished more than their white peers. In Texas, African-American students made 12.7% of the public school population but 17.9% of African-Americans received corporal punishment. In New York, American Indian students made 1% of the public school population but 33% of the total corporal punishment received. Additionally, boys are more likely to experience corporal punishment in states where it is reported. This punishment is generally not because of behavioral issues but more often due to explicit bias. Despite certain widespread prejudices, any good educator knows that no one group of students is better than another. Children‘s behavior is a reflection of their teachers' actions and school culture.
Students of color and students with disabilities are physically punished more than their white peers.
In some states, corporal punishment is not used, but it is also not outlawed. This is not just a problem of the American South; East coast states like Connecticut and Maine also lack laws making corporal punishment illegal. Moreover, in states where corporal punishment is expressly outlawed it often happens anyway. In November Vivian Noirie, 36, was arrested after assaulting a 17-year-old child at a Maryland high school where corporal punishment is illegal. Several cases like this one appear each year in American news and many more often go unreported by schools, students, and families.
Corporal punishment as a whole also expands beyond physical striking. According to the United States Department of Education, more than 100,000 students were placed in seclusion or involuntary confinement or were physically restrained at school to immobilize them or reduce their ability to move freely. Students with disabilities make up 12% of all students in the United States, but 67% of students subject to restraint or seclusion. American Indian or Alaska Native and multiracial boys represent 2% of all students, but 5% of students subject to restraint or seclusion. Black boys and white boys represent 8% and 26% of all students, respectively, but 18% and 43% of students subject to restraint or seclusion.
Most of us understand that teachers do not want to hit a student. It is an expression of frustration and a lack of knowledge of behavioral challenges and alternative solutions. While many volunteers have had the privilege to be shielded from corporal punishment in their youth, we must understand that corporal punishment is not just a Rwandan problem. You are right to allow this first-hand experience with the harms of corporal punishment to affect you. However, if you are passionate about ending corporal punishment’s harms and overall inefficiencies here, I challenge you to look beyond Rwanda and work to do the same in America.
An English lesson in my classroom.
One of the responsibilities of volunteers is to represent responsibly the people, cultures, values, and traditions of Rwanda to people in the United States. While Rwanda has a long way to go in corporal punishment, it is illegal here. The government is leading the way in shifting teachers’ mindsets. We cannot say the same for the United States. Corporal punishment comes from mindsets, and those mindsets cannot change without open, honest, reflective conversations. There will be no quick fixes for corporal punishment, but conversations are a starting point. Be sure to share the productive moments along with the challenging ones with your loved ones back home.
Work Cited
Ashimwe, Edwin. “Over 3,000 New Classrooms to Be Constructed.” The New Times | Rwanda, 26 July 2019, https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/over-3000-new-classrooms-be-constructed.
Cole, Diane. “What Happens When A Country Bans Spanking?” NPR, NPR, 25 Oct. 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/10/25/660191806/what-happens-when-a-country-bans-spanking.
“Convention on the Rights of the Child.” OHCHR, 30 Nov. 1989, https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx.
Gregory, James F. “The Crime of Punishment: Racial and Gender Disparities in the Use of Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools.” The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 64, no. 4, 1995, p. 454., doi:10.2307/2967267.
Shaw, Steven R, and Jeffery P Braden. “RACE AND GENDER BIAS IN THE ADMINISTRATION Steven R.Shaw University of Rorida OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.” School Phycology Review, vol. 19, no. 3, 1990, pp. 373–383., https://mcgill.ca/connectionslab/files/connectionslab/spr193shaw_0.pdf.
State and National Estimations, The U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection, https://ocrdata.ed.gov/StateNationalEstimations/Estimations_20.
Stephey, M.J. “Corporal Punishment in U.S. Schools.” Time, Time Inc., 12 Aug. 2009, http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1915820,00.htm.
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. "The Five Senses : No. V, Touching." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1854. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-1d47-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
Comments