_Nearly a half-century after the Supreme Court ruled that school spankings are permissible^[1] and not “cruel and unusual punishment”, many U.S. states allow physical punishment for students who have misbehaved.

_Today, over a third of the states^[2] allow teachers to paddle or spank students. More than 100,000 students are paddled in U.S. schools each year^[3].

Christina Erickson, an associate dean and professor of social work...