Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Hawaii have banned corporal punishment. The Los Angeles school board voted last week to outlaw it. More districts should follow suit. A few teachers and principals say the schools need the right to hit their students. They think it's a useful way to maintain discipline.
Corporal punishment is a terrible way to maintain discipline.
It sends our young people the message that the way to solve a problem Is by hitting someone. The great majority of educators know that. They are smart, capable professionals who don't need weapons to keep order. Discipline is essential to the learning process. But it can be achieved without taking a paddle to a pupil.