A report on the practice of paddling in schools finds that males, black students, and students in special education were far more likely to be paddled than their peers.
According to the report from New York City-based Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, also in New York, paddling is legal in 21 states but more prevalent in the South. Texas and Mississippi account for 40 percent of the paddling cases reported to the U.S. Department of Education in 2006-07 school year, according to the report.
The report recommends that corporal punishment be banned in all states, with no exceptions. Also, it says state legislatures should remove protections that prevent a parent from pursuing legal action in corporal-punishment cases involving schools.
