Corporal Punishment Allowed In New York Schools?

With the unofficial end of summer on the way and millions of kids getting ready to go back to school, there are so many things on the agenda that we have to make sure is set.

From making sure you have all the school supplies ready to ensuring you've figured out the best transportation method to get the kiddies to class, the start of school is often an exciting and stressful time for kids, parents, and education professionals alike.

However, it's not all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to making sure things run smoothly in schoolhouses all over the state, and with more than 4,300 schools in the Empire State it takes a lot to make sure that proper decorum is upheld in schools and kids are properly disciplined to ensure proper order is maintained.

So that takes understanding the various codes of conduct, along with what is and is not allowed for teachers and administrators to do to keep kids in line. Often corporal punishment comes up in these conversations, but what is corporal punishment and what are New York educators allowed to do?

What Is School Corporal Punishment?

US Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection division has gathered information from all 50 states regarding the status, rules, and condition of schools around the nation and defines Corporal Punishment in school as:

Paddling, spanking, or other forms of physical punishment imposed on a child.
-US Department of Education

The New York State Department of Education further defines it as: any act of physical force upon a pupil for the purpose of punishing that pupil.

Data collected shows that the amount of corporal punishment all over the nation has been decreasing year-over-year, but still several states allow significant amounts of physical punishment in classrooms.

Does New York Allow Corporal Punishment In Schools?

27 states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico have banned corporal punishment in classrooms, leaving teachers in the rest of the nation free to paddle and spank kids. US Dept. of Ed data shows that a majority of the reports of classroom physical discipline originate from 4 states: Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama.

U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights

New York is one of the states that have banned corporal punishment in schools, with teachers and administrators banned from physically disciplining kids. Those rules, however, have not prevented hundreds of substantiated cases of corporal punishment being reported every year.

Earlier this year, NYSED issued clarifying guidance that further explains state rules on corporal punishment. Of course, these rules only apply to public schools in New York as private schools are allowed to set their own rules.

Some Surprises On the List of the 12 Biggest School Districts in Upstate New York!

Most people in Upstate New York graduated from very small school districts. I know I did, 308 students. But what about those in the larger cities?

Here is a list of the dozen largest school districts in Upstate New York. For those of us from small rural schools, it is mind-boggling to imagine graduating from a school with 10,000, 20,000 and even 40,000 students in the district like some of those on this list did.

Amazing!