Starting this school year, Illinois will join just four other states in banning corporal punishment in all schools. Governor JB Pritzker recently signed a law that prohibits physical punishment in private schools, reinforcing a ban that has been in place for public schools for 30 years.
As of January, Illinois will join New Jersey, Iowa, Maryland, and New York in banning practices like paddling and spanking in every school.
State Representative Margaret Croke from Chicago pushed for this law after the American Association of Pediatrics called for an end to corporal punishment, citing its harmful effects on children’s behavior, mental health, and cognitive development. Croke emphasized that no child, whether in a private or public school, should face corporal punishment.
Croke was also concerned by the Cassville School District in Missouri, which brought back corporal punishment two years ago after having banned it in 2001. She wanted to make it clear that harming children is never acceptable.
Internationally, many agree. The World Health Organization and the United Nations have called corporal punishment a violation of children’s rights.
In the U.S., however, corporal punishment remains legal in some states. A 2023 bill to ban it in schools receiving federal funds has stalled in Congress. The U.S. Supreme Court also ruled in 1977 that the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment does not apply to school discipline.
Currently, 17 states still allow corporal punishment in schools, though some have restrictions. Illinois stopped it in public schools in 1994. States like New Jersey and Iowa banned it in all schools long ago.
Private schools in Illinois, including those in the Catholic Conference, already do not use corporal punishment. Even groups that typically resist state interference, like the Illinois Coalition of Nonpublic Schools, did not oppose this new law.
The ban does not apply to home schools. It also doesn’t restrict typical sports training or coaching practices, such as making students run laps.
Some Republicans expressed concern that this law could lead to more state control over private schools. However, Croke, whose child attends a Catholic school, clarified that the intent is solely to protect children from harm.