We recognize that responsibility for the emotional, intellectual, physical and social health of children is that of the whole community and of all its institutions, and that, after the home, the school is often best positioned to serve as the community's center for meeting the needs of the whole child. Children learn what they live. A child disciplined by violence learns to respond with violence. Years of research and hundreds of behavioral slides clearly support these statements. National PTA regards violence against children as a major societal problem.
Child abuse takes many forms, including corporal punishment.
The United Stabs is one of only a few industrialized nations in the world that continues to allow corporal punishment in the public schools. Besides the U.S., countries that still permit school corporal punishment include Iran, Uganda and New Zealand, parts of Canada and parts of Australia. The rest of the industrialized nations no longer allow teachers to hit school children. We do not have consistent laws protecting opportunity for parents, community and all levels of government to work together to provide expanded opportunities for parents to better fulfill their roles and exercise their rights and responsibilities on behalf of children. Without a definition, the law becomes a potential tool for abuse by governmental policymakers who may read into the law whatever they wish.