Human Rights Watch report condemns corporal punishment, Washington Times Daybook, August 17, 2008

A Human Rights Watch report concludes that 21 states permit the use of corporal punishment against children in public schools, with 223,190 students beaten in the 2006-07 school year. Corporal punishment typically takes the form of "paddling," whereby an administrator or teacher hits a child repeatedly on the buttocks with a wooden board, causing, the report says, pain, humiliation and, in some cases, deep bruising or other serious injuries. The report also claims that corporal punishment is used disproportionately against black students and those with mental or physical disabilities and that the punishment leaves students unwilling or unable to learn.



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