Your Health -- Put away the paddle, pediatricians urge

ATLANTA (CNN) -- The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending a nationwide ban on spanking in schools.

"We should be giving positive reinforcement, not negative reinforcement to violence," said Dr. Wayne Yankus, a pediatrician.

QUICKVOTE Should spanking be banned in school? Yes -- it fosters a climate of violence No -- it is a necessary means of discipline View Results     ALSO Corporal punishment in public schools is banned in the District of Colombia and the following states: •Alaska •California •Connecticut •Hawaii •Illinois •Iowa •Maine •Maryland •Massachusetts •Michigan •Minnesota •Montana •Nebraska •Nevada •New Hampshire •New Jersey •New York •North Dakota •Oregon •Rhode Island •South Dakota •Utah •Vermont •Virginia •Washington •West Virginia •Wisconsin

The AAP, which has about 55,000 members, says spanking can have an adverse effect on children's self-image and school achievement -- and "may contribute to disruptive and violent student behavior."

A 1998 study at the University of New Hampshire supports that view. It found that corporal punishment can lead to behavior like cheating, lying, disobedience and deliberately breaking things.

Students are spanked or paddled between 1 million and 2 million times a year in U.S. schools, the AAP reported, citing federal statistics.

Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia prohibit spanking students, said the report. The United States and Canada are the only industrialized countries with corporal punishment in schools.

Many parents who were themselves spanked as children believe it is an effective form of discipline. But the pediatricians' group says alternative methods should be used.

"Corporal punishment has no place," said Yankus. "We need to talk about violence mediation skills, but we need to reduce the amount of violence that we find in schools at this time. Therefore there's no place for us to be spanking children."

CNN correspondent Pat Etheridge contributed to this report.

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American Academy of Pediatrics
Corporal Punishment in Schools Guidance for Effective Discipline (RE9740)

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