After years of debate, corporal punishment ends in Kentucky schools

Valarie Honeycutt Spears
·2 min read

After decades of debate, all local Kentucky school boards have now approved a policy banning corporal punishment.

Jennifer Ginn, spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Education, confirmed the prohibition Thursday. The practice, which included paddling, caused controversy in the state for years.

An administrative regulation that went into effect Aug. 30 required school districts to create a policy on the use of corporal punishment in schools, the advocacy group Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky said in a Wednesday news release.

University of Notre Dame student Alex Young began working on ending corporal punishment in Kentucky public schools in middle school after passing mock legislation on the topic in the Kentucky Youth Assembly. After the youth government conference, he worked with state legislators on a legislative push for a ban on corporal punishment in 2017.

The Kentucky General Assembly never banned corporal punishment, but the administrative regulation requiring school boards to make a policy ended up having the same effect.

“Students in the commonwealth will be safer, no longer having to attend school in fear of being hit by trusted adults,” Young said in the Wednesday news release.

“I am grateful that school boards and district leaders across Kentucky are in agreement that the archaic and inappropriate practice of corporal punishment has no place in our schools,” he said.

The Herald-Leader previously reported that from 2016-17 to 2021-22, the number of corporal punishment incidents dropped from 317 to 13 in late 2021.

There were five incidents of corporal punishment in the state last academic year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education’s 2022-2023 School Report Card, released on Tuesday. The five incidents were in Pike County involving white male students.

Pike County superintendent Reed Adkins told the Herald-Leader in 2022 that he had encouraged his staff not to use corporal punishment.

“Ending corporal punishment in schools is an issue we have been strong advocates for going back many years,” Jill Seyfred, director of Prevent Child Abuse, said in the news release. “It is encouraging that every Kentucky school will now be free of this harmful practice and will provide healthier, safer environments for all children.”