North Carolina Lawmakers Propose Banning Corporal Punishment In Schools

House Bill 295 would change state law to prohibit public schools from using corporal punishment.

Democratic Rep. Susan Fisher, one of the bill's primary sponsors, says the law would reflect the fact that all 115 public school districts have effectively banned the practice.

Attitudes about how to discipline students have sharply shifted over the last 30 years.

According to statistics kept by the U.S. Department of Education, North Carolina educators paddled students over 21,000 times in 1988. That number dropped to 60 times in the 2017-18 school year.

The News and Observer reports the last two school districts in the state to use corporal punishment, Graham and Robeson counties, voted last year to ban the practice.

Tom Vitaglione, an official with NC Child, says changing the law would send a powerful message “that North Carolina is a state where children don't get hit in schools.”