School corporal punishment in global perspective: prevalence, outcomes, and efforts at intervention

Figures & data

Table 1. The 69 countries in which school corporal punishment is legally permitted in 2016.

Angola	Mozambique
Antigua and Barbuda	Myanmar
Australia	Nepal
Bahamas	Niger
Barbados	Nigeria
Bhutan	Pakistan
Botswana	Palau
Brunei Darussalam	Panama
Burkina Faso	Papua New Guinea
Central African Republic	Qatar
Comoros	Republic of Korea
Côte d’Ivoire	Samoa
Dominica	Saudi Arabia
DPR Korea	Senegal
Egypt	Seychelles
Equatorial Guinea	Sierra Leone
Eritrea	Singapore
Gambia	Solomon Islands
Ghana	Somalia
Grenada	Sri Lanka
Guatemala	St Kitts and Nevis
Guinea	St Lucia
Guyana	St Vincent and the Grenadines
India	State of Palestine
Indonesia	Sudan
Iran	Suriname
Iraq	Swaziland
Jamaica	Syrian Arab Republic
Lebanon	Timor-Leste
Lesotho	Tuvalu
Liberia	UR Tanzania
Malaysia	United States of America
Maldives	Western Sahara
Mauritania	Zimbabwe
Morocco

Source: Global Initiative (2016g).

Table 2. Examples of laws permitting school corporal punishment.

Botswana, Children’s Act 2009, article 61^a

(1) No person shall subject a child to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

(2) No person shall subject a child to correction which is unreasonable in kind or in degree relative to the age, physical and mental condition of the child and which, if the child by reason of tender age or otherwise is incapable of understanding the purpose and fairness thereof

(3) The provisions of this section shall not be construed as prohibiting the corporal punishment of

children in such circumstances or manner as may be set out in this Act or any other law….

Dominica, Education Act 1997, article 49^a

(1) In the enforcement of discipline in public schools, assisted private schools and private schools degrading or injurious punishment shall not be administered

(2) Corporal punishment may be administered where no other punishment is considered suitable or effective, and only by the principal, deputy principal or any teacher appointed in writing by the principal for that purpose, in a manner which is in conformity with the guidelines issued in writing by the Chief Education Officer

(3) Whenever corporal punishment is administered an entry shall be made in a punishment book that shall be kept in each school for such purpose with a statement of the nature and extent of the punishment and the reasons for administering it

(4) A person other than those mentioned in subsection (2) who administers corporal punishment to a child on the school premises is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of one thousand dollars

Papua New Guinea, Criminal Code 1974, article 278^a

It is lawful for a parent or a person in the place of a parent, or for a schoolmaster, or master, to use, by way of correction, towards a child, pupil or apprentice under his care such force as is reasonable under the circumstances

Singapore, Education (School) Regulations 1958, article 88(2)^a

The corporal punishment of boy pupils shall be administered with a light cane on the palms of the hands or on the buttocks over the clothing. No other form of corporal punishment shall be administered to boy pupils

St Kitts and Nevis, Education Act 2005, article 49(2)^a

Corporal punishment may be administered where no other punishment is considered suitable or effective, and only by the principal, deputy principal or any teacher appointed by the principal for that purpose, in a manner which is in conformity with the guidelines issued, in writing, by the Chief Education Officer

United States, Mississippi, 37-11-57. (2)^b

Corporal punishment administered in a reasonable manner, or any reasonable action to maintain control and discipline of students taken by a teacher, assistant teacher, principal or assistant principal acting within the scope of his employment or function and in accordance with any state or federal laws or rules or regulations of the State Board of Education or the local school board, does not constitute negligence or child abuse

United States, Tennessee^c

49-6-4103. Corporal punishment. Any teacher or school principal may use corporal punishment in a reasonable manner against any pupil for good cause in order to maintain discipline and order within the public schools.

49-6-4104. Rules and regulations. Each local board of education shall adopt rules and regulations it deems necessary to implement and control any form of corporal punishment in the schools in its district.

Zimbabwe, Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act 2004, article 241(2)^a

… a school-teacher shall have authority to administer moderate corporal punishment for disciplinary purposes upon any minor male pupil or student; and, where moderate corporal punishment is administered upon a minor person by a parent, guardian or school-teacher within the scope of that authority, the authority shall be a complete defence to a criminal charge alleging the commission of a crime of which the administration of the punishment is an essential element.

^a Global Initiative (2015b).

^b Bezinque, Meldrum, Darling-Churchill, and Stuart-Cassel (2015); Mississippi Code (2013).

^c Bezinque et al. (2015); Tennessee Statutes and Codes (2016).

Table 3. Prevalence of school corporal punishment in selected countries, regardless of legality.

Country	Legal status	Year	Prevalence
			% of students reporting they were subject to corporal punishment	% of students or teachers reporting others were subject to corporal punishment
Africa^a
Benin	Banned	2009	88% of girls beaten in schools
Botswana	Legal	2007	92% of students
Cameroon^b	Banned	2000	97% of students
Central African Republic	Legal	2013	51% of males and 45% of females
Djibouti	Banned	2006	28% hit with object, 14% had been pinched or had hair or ears pulled
Egypt^c	Legal	1998	80% of boys, 62% of girls
Equatorial Guinea	Legal	2011	54%
Ethiopia^d	Banned	2009	38% of 8 year olds in past week; 12% of 15 year olds in past week	76% of 8 year olds observed in past week; 49% of 15 year olds observed in past week
Ghana	Legal	2010	71% of students
Kenya^e	Banned	2010	41% of females, 46% of males were punched, kicked, whipped, or beaten with an object in previous 12 months
Malawi	Banned	2007	48% of students
Mali	Banned	2009		83% of students report that it occurs
Morocco^f	Legal	2005	87% of students
Mozambique	Legal	2009	40% hit with an object in past two weeks
Nigeria	Legal	2011		80% of respondents had seen students hit with a cane, 46% with a horsewhip, 30% with hand
South Africa	Banned	2013	50% of students
Swaziland^g	Legal	2005	59% of students beat with object in previous 2 weeks; 20% of students hit with hand in previous 2 weeks
Togo	Banned	2005	88% of girls and 87% of boys
Uganda^h	Banned	2015	90% of students in primary school (88% reported caning)
United Republic of Tanzania^i	Legal	2014	98% of boys, 91% of girls	98% of boys, 99% of girls
Zambia^j	Legal	2005	32% of students in previous 2 weeks
Zimbabwe	Legal	2009		67% of students report teachers use corporal punishment
Europe and Central Asia^k
Albania	Banned	2006	39% of students had hair pulled, 37% pinched, 52% hti with an object, 34% hit with an open hand
Belgium	Banned	2011	23% of students had ear pulled, 18% had hair pulled, 20% were hit with a hand on their hand or fingers, 14% forced to stand or kneel in painful position
Czech Republic	Banned	2011		30% of teachers had slapped a student
Kazakhstan	Banned	2013	13% in past year
Serbia	Banned	2006	43% in past three months
TFYR Macedonia	Banned	2009		57% knew a child who had been beaten by a teacher
Middle East and South Asia^l
Afghanistan	Banned	2008		Observed in 100% of boys’ schools and 20% of girls’ schools
Bangladesh	Banned	2015	53% of students
India^d	Legal	2009	78% of 8 year olds in past week; 34% of 15 year olds in past week	93% of 8 year olds observed in past week; 68% of 15 year olds observed in past week
Iraq	Legal	2008		48% of teachers used
Jordan	Banned	2007	57% of students had been subject to severe violence (hitting with object, biting burning); 50% had been subject to mild violence (slapping, pulling hair, pinching, pushing, twisting arms or legs)
Lebanon^f	Legal	2005	46% of students in previous month
Pakistan	Legal	2014	44% of students in previous 6 months
State of Palestine	Legal	2010	80% of students
Yemen^f	Banned	2010	90% of students
East Asia And The Pacific^m
Cambodia	Banned	2013	15% of boys and 9% of girls in previous 6 months
China	Banned	2004	58% of students (10% beat with an object)
Fiji	Banned	2008	31% in past month
Hong Kong^n	Banned	2006		54% of discipline involves physical punishment
Indonesia	Legal	2014	27% of boys and 9% of girls in previous 6 months
Myanmar	Legal	2012	82% of students beaten
Philippines	Banned	2009	18% of students pinched, 16% spanked with hand or object
Republic of Korea^n	Legal	2011	98% of students	94% of discipline involves physical punishment
Samoa	Legal	2013	41% in past year
Taiwan	Banned	2012		95% of students have seen school corporal punishment
Vietnam^d^,^n	Banned	2009	20% of 8 year olds in past week; 1% of 15 year olds in past week	59% of 8 year olds in past week; 13% of 15 year olds in past week; 69% of discipline involves physical punishment
North, Central, and South America^o
Barbados	Legal	2009	56% of students flogged at school
Dominica	Legal	2009	86% of students
Grenada^p	Legal	2014	85% of students	86% of teachers report using
Jamaica^q	Legal	2009	96% of boys and 89% of girls
Peru^d	Banned	2009	30% of 8 year olds in past week; 7% of 15 year olds in past week	51% of 8 year olds observed in past week
				19% of 15 year olds observed in past week
St. Kitts & Nevis^p	Legal	2014	92% of students	88% of teachers report using
St. Lucia	Legal	2011		86% of students report corporal punishment at their school
St. Vincent & the Grenadines^p	Legal	2014	82% of students	83% of teachers report using
Trinidad & Tobago^p	Banned	2014	92% of students	71% of teachers report using
United States of America^r	Legal	2012	1% of all public school students nationally (7% in Mississippi, 4% in Alabama, 4% in Arkansas, 2% in Oklahoma; all other states 1% or less)

Note: Dates refer to year of survey if available or to year of report if not. Source for prevalence data is report cited in section heading, unless otherwise indicated.

^a Global Initiative (2016a);

^b Pinheiro (2006);

^c Youssef et al. (1998);

^d Ogando Portela and Pells (2015);

^e United Nation’s Children’s Fund Kenya County Office et al. (2012);

^f Save the Children Sweden (2011);

^g Clacherty et al. (2005b);

^h DeVries et al. (2015);

ⁱ Hecker et al. (2014);

^j Clacherty et al. (2005a);

^k Global Initiative (2016d);

^l Global Initiative (2016e, 2016f);

^m Global Initiative (2016c);

ⁿ Beazley et al. (2006);

^o Global Initiative (2016b);

^p Bailey, Robinson, and Coore-Desai (2014);

^q Baker-Henningham et al. (2009);

^r Gershoff and Font (2016).

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