The leader of a church-run school in Orlando allegedly spanked misbehaving fourth-graders. Although many consider such an action to be acts of child abuse, Florida is one of 18 states across the U.S. that permit it, according to news reports.
In fact, the state is one of 18 that continue to permit spanking for misbehavior, even though data shows the number of incidents has declined each year over the ten years. Still, laws to limit spanking in public and charter schools is unlikely to change in the state, even though it is considered child abuse in other parts of the country.
“I had the same reaction a lot of people had, which is that I assumed it had already been banned,” said Rep. Katherine Waldron, D-Palm Beach, who looked into the issue before introducing legislation to prohibit it among certain students. That bill would not apply to students with disabilities, and require parents to buy into the practice before it’s used on their children.
Fourteen other states, mostly in the south, also allow such punishment by law, while three states don’t expressly condone or outlaw the practice. The rest prohibit it.
