North Carolina is one of 21 states with a law that permits corporal punishment in public schools but may be the only state that does not monitor how that punishment is administered, according to Action for Children North Carolina.

The advocacy group released the statement today in a report, “Fact or Fiction: Corporal Punishment in North Carolina Public Schools,” and called for the punishment to be standardized and monitored since the state does not ban the practice.

"Action for Children was surprised to learn that the State Board of Education does not require reports from local school districts on how many times students were struck by school staff," said Barbara Bradley, President and CEO of Action for Children. "The State Board does not collect local policies, so no one knows how many local districts still allow corporal punishment."

Last month, Action for Children and students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Social Work completed a survey of corporal punishment policies from all 115 local school districts in the state. The report presents an analysis of those policies. Findings include:

* Sixty local districts still permit corporal punishment.
* Fifty-five local districts ban it, and this number grows each year.
* Virtually all the most populous school districts have banned corporal punishment, so between 70-80 percent of public school students are not subject to corporal punishment.

"We knew that corporal punishment is not defined in state law," said Tom Vitaglione, Senior Fellow of Health and Safety at Action for Children, who led the analysis. "However, we were surprised to find that 25 of the local districts that permit corporal punishment include no definition of corporal punishment in their policies. Are hands used? Paddles? And many of the other 35 districts have unclear definitions. This means that the administration of corporal punishment is most often left to the ‘discretion’ of school principals."

Other findings from the report include:

* Seven districts clearly prescribe paddling on the buttocks, and an additional 14 districts allow both spanking by hand as well as paddling. Several policies specifically prohibit shaking as well as slapping of the face or head. There is one reminder to avoid using a whip, rod or belt.
* Only 23 districts require principals to report the occurrence of corporal punishment to the superintendent’s office. Thus, there is no check on the principal’s “discretion” with regard to corporal punishment.
* None of the policies reviewed require training for school personnel who administer corporal punishment.
* Seven districts have policies that require specific written parental permission to hit their child. In all other districts, parents are notified only after the fact that their child has received corporal punishment.

"We have heard allegations that minority students receive corporal punishment disproportionately and that even students in special education receive corporal punishment, which is violation of federal law," said Brian Lewis, Executive Director of the Covenant with North Carolina's Children. "We desperately need a reporting requirement to help protect students from indiscriminate use of corporal punishment."

"Schools are now required to file annual reports on 17 categories of acts of violence committed by students," said Peggy Dean, RN, member of the Board of Directors for Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education. "It makes sense to also require reporting of instances when school staff hit students." 

Since there is no statewide ban, Action for Children calls for the practice of corporal punishment to be standardized and monitored. The brief recommends the following in an effort to protect students from inadvertent injury and to protect school districts and school staffs from lawsuits: 

* Local school districts should be required to report to the State Board of Education the number of times that corporal punishment has been administered by age, race, gender and special education status of recipient students at least annually. 
* A standardized definition of corporal punishment should be adopted that includes training for school staff that administer it, a requirement that the gender of the staff be the same as the recipient student, and a restriction of corporal punishment to the use of the hand on the buttocks (spanking) to avoid injuries inherent in the use of a paddle.

Vitaglione said  since the State Board of Education seems reluctant to deal with the issue of corporal punishment administratively, these recommendations will most likely need to be implemented through a change in the statute as soon as possible.  "Our students deserve to be protected from injury, especially the tragedy of an inadvertent injury inflicted by school teachers and administrators," he said.

Action for Children noted that the Public Health Study Commission has approved submission of a bill in the upcoming legislative session to require the reporting of corporal punishment, and to provide a better definition of acceptable corporal punishment practices.

Action for Children's Fact or Fiction report is available online at www.ncchild.org.