Black students are more likely to receive disproportionate corporal punishments in public schools. A study conducted in 2009 by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch found that black students received a disproportionate amount of corporal punishment from educators -- 35.67 percent -- even though they made up only 17.13 percent of the student body. (Adwar)
There are 19 states that still allow educators to use corporal punishments on students in public school but only three stand out as states that allow too much leeway. The punishments usually is done with a paddle, which is 15 inches long. An alternate choice is a hand ruler or a longer, thicker ruler. A student is hit on the buttocks at most three times. Parents are often outraged and saddened at the fact that there child is being punished for small offenses. A father of an 11-year-old boy in Texas with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia gave an account in the HRW/ACLU report of his son’s experience being allegedly paddled by his principal in 2009: “The first swat knocked [my son] down...when he fell, the principal said he had five seconds to get back up, or he’d start all over again...found the marks on him. He had severe bruising on his buttocks and on his lower back. His butt was just covered."
As you can see the disadvantages of Corporal punishment range from disproportionate cruel treatment to unnecessary roughness. Of course there are other disciplinary punishments that can be used besides corporal punishment but most schools would prefer to use corporal punishment rather than suspending students from school. In recent months, school districts have come under heavy criticism for suspending and expelling black students at much higher rates than white ones, starting in the youngest grades. “During the 2011–12 school year, black children made up only 18 percent of the preschool students included in one national survey, yet nearly...