State Laws on Corporal Punishment: Students Discipline in the United States Public Schools - Research Paper Example

Available data on corporal punishments in US public schools indicate that this practice has not disappeared from all public schools in the country. The US Supreme Court made a landmark ruling in 1977 on this subject and ruled that paddling by public schools is lawful provided that the local authorities have not explicitly outlawed it (Alexander & Alexander, 2012). States that permit corporal punishment allow educators to use corporal punishment in disciplining public school students. Babbie (2010) notes that descriptive research design is primarily used to collect and obtain information about the current status of a phenomenon under study. It describes what exists in regard to conditions or variables in a situation. Babbie (2010) argues that this approach is the most preferable as it enhances the credibility, reliability, and validity of the research.

This study will seek to respond to the following research questions: Discipline: State Laws on Corporal Punishment/students conduct & discipline in the US public schools
i) What are different state laws' positions on corporal punishment/students' conduct and discipline in US public schools?
ii) How do these positions impact students' conduct and discipline in the public schools in specific states?
iii) What are the views of educators and students regarding these state laws in their respective states?

Context of the Problem
The subject of corporal punishment draws raging debates among scholars, parents, educators, and students. On the one side of the debate is the view that it instills good discipline and conduct among students in public schools. However, on the other side, it is viewed as a cruel and ineffective way of ensuring students in public schools have good discipline and conduct (Alexander & Alexander, 2012). Since some US states have banned corporal punishment in public schools while others have not, it is important to get insights on the impact of their respective position on the subject on students' conduct and discipline. Also, it is crucial to examine whether certain groups of students are more likely to be paddled compared to others. This is because statistics show that Black and Hispanic students are more probable to be spanked or paddled compared to white students in public schools (Alexander & Alexander, 2012). This will help to provide insight as to why the minority groups are reluctant to consent to corporal punishment. The completed research work will contain a detailed description of the status or condition of state laws on corporal punishment in all US states. In addition, it will contain a well-detailed explanation of the impact of these state laws on the conduct and discipline of students in public schools in respective states.