Number of students hit, spanked, or subject to corporal punishment in the 2006-2007 school year, according to U.S. Education Department figures: 223,190
Number in 2000-2001: 342,038
Number of states that report more than 1,000 uses of corporal punishment per year: 13
Rank of Texas, Mississippi and Alabama among states most likely to use corporal punishment: 1, 2 and 3.
Ratio of boys paddled to girls: 4 to 1
Chance that a girl subject to corporal punishment is black: 2 out of 3
Percentage of students nationwide who are black: 17.
Percentage of corporal punishments nationwide meted out on black students: 35.6
Percentage of U.S. students classified as disabled: 10.7
Percentage of corporal punishments meted out on disabled students: 17.4
Percentage of Northeast, Upper Midwest and Pacific states that have banned corporal punishment: 100
Percentage of Southern states that have banned it: 0
Percentage of people in Twiggs County, Georgia who support the practice, according to a member of the community’s school board: 95
Average number of daily referrals for paddling reported by a former assistant principal in charge of discipline at a middle school in Meridian, Mississippi: 19-23 students
Single day record in the same school: 37 students.
Number of states and countries where corporal punishment is banned: 29, 106 countries, respectively
Sources: USA Today, Reuters, Human Rights Watch
(With apologies to the Harper’s Index)
Well, if it’s good enough for Singapore, it’s good enough for Texas, is what my ole gran’pappy used to say! And Singapore has very low crime rates indeed!