It teaches children to hit someone smaller and weaker when angry. Bruises are common. Broken bones are not unusual. Children's deaths have occurred in the U.S. due to school corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is used much more often on poor children, minorities, children with disabilities, and boys.
Schools are the only institutions in America in which striking another person is legally sanctioned.
It is not allowed in prisons, in the military or in mental hospitals. Educators and school boards are sometimes sued when corporal punishment is used in their schools. Schools that use corporal punishment often have poorer academic achievement, more vandalism, truancy, pupil violence and higher drop out rates. Corporal punishment is often not used as a last resort. It is often the first resort for minor misbehaviors.