Corporal punishment in schools and community violence: a missing link?

Community violence is an urgent public health and safety issue with significant personal and societal costs. The causes and correlates of community violence are complex, and mounting evidence suggests that many factors contribute to violence experienced in community, including societal norms, environmental conditions, socioeconomic policies, and childhood experiences. Prevention approaches that support children, families, and communities before violence occurs are essential to reducing community violence, and one under-studied area is the use of corporal punishment of children in schools. In this article, we discuss the legality, prevalence, disparities, and effects of corporal punishment in schools in the United States, as well as the existing evidence for the efficacy of school corporal punishment bans in reducing community violence. Despite a wealth of evidence demonstrating corporal punishment is linked with a host of negative effects on children’s health and well-being, its use in schools remains legal in 17 US states. Although evidence for the efficacy of corporal punishment bans is limited, particularly in the US school context, the preliminary findings are telling. Corporal punishment bans have been associated with reductions in gun violence, murder, adolescent fighting, suicide, and child abuse and neglect. We must close the gap between what is known to be good for children and youth and the policies and practices that shape childhood experiences, including the sanctioned use of violence against children.