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The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for a ban on corporal punishment in all schools.
Striking or spanking children is legal in public schools in 18 states including Florida.
Spanking in school is legal in the sunshine state as long as it does not cause harm.
Under Florida law, harm can include physical, mental, or emotional injury, even if no actual harm occurs.
Although 96% of public schools say they no longer strike students, nearly 70,000 students a year are struck “at least once by school personnel,” and corporal punishment is most widely used in the US South, the AAP statement said.
Rather than spanking, some schools are employing “restorative justice” requiring students who have caused another person harm sit and talk with that person, accepting responsibility for their actions.