Corporal punishment in schools

Uncommon card · No. 111591

Corporal punishment in schools is the deliberate infliction of physical pain as a response to undesired behaviour by students. In schools it typically involves either striking the student on the buttocks or on the palms of their hands with an implement (some of which are only applied to the buttocks) such as a plimsoll (slipper), rattan cane, wooden paddle, leather strap/tawse/belt, or wooden yardstick. Less commonly, it could also include spanking or smacking the student with an open hand, especially at the kindergarten, primary school, or other more junior levels. Much of the traditional culture that surrounds corporal punishment in school, at any rate in the English-speaking world, derives largely from British practice in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly as regards the caning of teenage boys. There is a vast amount of literature on this, in both popular and serious culture. In the English-speaking world, the use of corporal punishment in schools has historically been justified...

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