Twenty-two states allow paddling of children with a wooden paddle for discipline in school.

Your support is needed to abolish this legalized child abuse in our schools which promotes more child abuse at home. Twenty-eight states have banned this brutal and archaic practice.

"In l979, Sweden became the first country to end all corporal punishment of children"[at home and school.] In the beginning, the Swedish government decided it was important to educate the public about the bad effects of corporal punishment and to help caretakers learn about effective alternatives. For countries that have not ended all corporal punishment of children, a no-hitting day is an opportunity for concerned organizations and individuals to promote positive discipline of children and to call for an end to corporal punishment." Mali Nillson, Save the Children Sweden

Worldwide Bans on Corporal Punishment:

Every industrialized country in the world now prohibits school corporal punishment, except the U.S. and Australia (Outback regions only. The following list shows the trend towards the elimination of corporal punishment in schools, dating back to the 1700's

Year Country
Since Foundation** Iceland
1783 Poland
1820 Netherlands
1845 Luxembourg
1860 Italy
1867 Belgium
1870 Austria
1881 France
1890 Finland
1900 Japan
1917 Russia
1923 Turkey
1936 Norway
1949 China
1950 Portugal
1958 Sweden
1967 Denmark
1967 Cyprus
1970 Germany
1970 Switzerland
1982 Ireland
1983 Greece
1986 United Kingdom***
1990 New Zealand
1990 Namibia
1996 South Africa
1998 England*
1998 American Samoa
1999 Zimbabwe
2000 Zambia
2000 Thailand
2000 Trinidad and Tobago
2001 Kenya
2002 Fiji
2004 Canada

*This ban solidifies a ban imposed in 1986, extending the ban to ALL private schools.
**Iceland is the only country known to have banned corporal punishment during the country's foundation. Hence, it has never been legal there.
*** Includes: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

More than 200 Texas children died from abuse or neglect in the past fiscal year, up 11% from the previous year and double the number from a decade earlier, according to the state Dept. of Family and Protective Services. The 2004 fatality rate, 3.3 per 100,000 Texas children is 65% higher than the national average of 1.98 per 100,000 from the federal Dept. of Health and Human services.

In fiscal 2003, Texas had 184 child fatalities related to abuse or neglect, in 1994 it was 102.

Plano TX School Board set to ban corporal punishment
January 16 2006
One of the nation's largest school districts is voting to ban corporal punishment this week. The district schools had not used corporal punishment in some time. "It's important to get it off the books," said Nadine Block, Director of the Center for Effective Discipline, a non-profit organization which provides information about effects of corporal punishment and alternatives. "Even if corporal punishment is not used in practice, it is important to reflect that in policy, she said. Otherwise, practice could easily change with new administrators" (Dallas Morning News, January 16). For further information, contact info@stophitting.org

If your state allows paddling in schools, I urge you to do what YOU can to pass a bill in your state to prevent legalized child abuse. See photo of paddled Texas school boy at http://www.nospankingzone.org.