Sec. 2. Findings
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/bill/113/hr/5005/ih/section-2·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: Behavioral interventions for children must promote the right of all children to be treated with dignity. All children have the right to be free from any corporal punishment. Safe, effective, evidence-based strategies are available to support children who display challenging behaviors in school settings. School personnel have the right to work in a safe environment and should be provided training and support to prevent injury and trauma to themselves and others.
According to the Department of Education’s Technical Assistance Center on School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Support, outcomes associated with school-wide positive behavior support are decreased office discipline referrals, increased instructional time, decreased administrator time spent on discipline issues, efficient and effective use of scarce resources, and increased perception of school safety and sustainability through a team approach. Nineteen States continue to permit corporal punishment in public schools.
According to Department of Education statistics, each year in the United States, hundreds of thousands of school children are subjected to corporal punishment in public schools. School corporal punishment is usually executed in the form of paddling , or striking students with a wooden paddle on their buttocks or legs, which can result in abrasions, bruising, severe muscle injury, hematomas, whiplash damage, life-threatening hemorrhages, and other medical complications that may require hospitalization.
Gross racial disparity exists in the execution of corporal punishment of public school children, and African-American schoolchildren are disproportionately corporally punished. The most recent available statistics show that African-American students make up 17.1 percent of the national student population, but 35.6 percent of all students subjected to physical punishment at school. Public school children with disabilities are subjected to corporal punishment at disproportionately high rates, approximately twice the rate of the general student population in some States.
Corporal punishment is used in many instances for minor disciplinary infractions, such as being tardy or violating the dress code. Corporal punishment has resulted in physical injury and psychological trauma to children in public and private schools. Social skills development after the use of corporal punishment may be severely altered, leading to aggressive behaviors. National research shows students have been subjected to corporal punishment in schools as a means of discipline, to force compliance, or as a substitute for appropriate educational support.
Children are protected from corporal punishment in other settings, such as hospitals, health facilities, Head Start programs, and nonmedical community-based facilities. Similar protections are needed in schools. Prisoners in Federal prison are protected from corporal punishment.