Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child? A Critical Discourse Analysis of State Corporal Punishment Policies and Practices.

This article examines the continued legal sanctioning and practice of corporal punishment (CP)—defined as physical discipline such as spanking, hitting, and paddling—in U.S. public schools across 15 states, primarily in the South. Using critical discourse analysis of state policy documents alongside quantitative data from the 2017–2018 Civil Rights Data Collection, the study identifies three dominant discourses in CP policies: moral discourse (framing CP as a tool for discipline and moral development), delinquency discourse (labeling punished students as disruptive or delinquent), and authority discourse (highlighting tensions between school and parental power). The findings reveal that CP is disproportionately applied to Black students and students with disabilities, reflecting historical and racialized patterns of state-sanctioned violence, and that policies often use color-evasive language that obscures these disparities. The study underscores the need for policymakers to prohibit CP, critically examine embedded assumptions in discipline policies, and address racial inequities inherent in school disciplinary practices.