Kentucky Schools Free of Corporal Punishment in the 2023- 2024 School Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Amanda Royer, [email protected], 859.201.2272 (call or text)

Alex Young, [email protected], 502.777.6111

Lexington, Ky. (January 8, 2025) –For the first time in recent history, there were zero incidents of corporal punishment in Kentucky schools. The historic end to paddling in the 2023-2024 school year follows years of advocacy efforts by students, Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky, lawmakers and other partners committed to the safety and welfare of Kentucky’s children. After an administrative regulation required each school district to formalize policy regarding corporal punishment in August of 2023, all 171 Kentucky public school districts banned the archaic practice, a decision that protected students and prevented incidents in the subsequent school year.

“The eradication of corporal punishment from Kentucky’s public schools is a major milestone for student safety and wellbeing in the commonwealth,” said Alex Young, a junior at the University of Notre Dame and Kentuckian who has advocated for the elimination of corporal punishment in schools for the past eight years. “Last year, Kentucky students were safer without the looming threat of school-sanctioned violence in the injurious form of paddling. Corporal punishment has historically disproportionately affected students with disabilities and Kentucky’s most vulnerable children. These students and children in Kentucky’s 120 counties deserve to receive a quality education in a safe environment. A full year without corporal punishment in schools means we are closer to actualizing that ideal.”

Incident data, detailed in annual Kentucky Department of Education’s School Report Cards, indicate a rapid decline in statewide corporal punishment incidents over the past decade and discriminatory trends in the practice’s application. In the 2017-2018 school year, there were 452 incidents of corporal punishment across Kentucky schools. In the 2019-2020 school year, about 46% of incidents involved students with disabilities. With no incidents in the 2023-2024 school year and bans in place statewide, advocates are celebrating the end of adverse corporal punishment practices as positive change.

Dr. Kelly Dauk, M.D., a Louisville-based pediatric hospitalist and No Hit Advocate, reflected on the milestone, “To see the 2023-2024 School Report Card show ZERO incidents of corporal punishment is a huge step forward for Kentucky’s kids. Through the multi-pronged efforts of advocates, educators, students, and officials, Kentucky kids now attend school in safer, healthier environments. The No Hit policies adopted by all local school boards are commendable.

“Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky has been a longtime advocate in the push to end corporal punishment in schools,” said PCAK Executive Director Jill Seyfred. “I am grateful our work, alongside partners Representative Steve Riley, the Kentucky Board of Education, school district leaders, and other committed advocates, helped decrease incident rates and ultimately led to the end of the harmful practice. Last year’s lack of incidents marks the beginning of a brighter future for Kentucky children.”

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Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky is the Kentucky Chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America. They are headquartered in Lexington, and serve more than 15,000 Kentuckians annually.?