Ending Corporal Punishment Starts With Community – IDRA Classnotes Podcast Episode #256
Classnotes Podcast (April 30, 2026). Corporal punishment is still used in U.S. schools, with harmful and disproportionate impacts on Black students, students with disabilities and children in the South. This episode explores how schools can move toward discipline rooted in dignity, relationships and student well-being.
Key takeaways
Corporal punishment remains legal in 20 states and affects tens of thousands of students.
Black students and students with disabilities are disproportionately subjected to physical punishment.
Fear-based discipline harms student trust, learning, attendance and long-term well-being.
Restorative practices and relationship-building support accountability while preserving dignity.
Families and communities are essential to shaping fair, culturally responsive discipline systems.
Resource from the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA), a nonprofit advancing education equity.
Corporal punishment in schools remains legal in 20 states, disproportionately harming Black students, students with disabilities, and children across the U.S. South. In this episode, IDRA’s Morgan Craven, J.D., and Aurelio Montemayor, M.Ed., examine why physical punishment persists in schools, the lasting harms it causes and what communities can do instead.
Through a conversation on restorative practices, family engagement and culturally-sustaining discipline, they explore how schools can move away from fear-based punishment and toward learning environments rooted in dignity, accountability and student well-being.
Morgan Craven, J.D., is IDRA’s National Director of Policy, Advocacy and Community Engagement. Aurelio Montemayor, M.Ed., is IDRA’s Family Engagement Coordinator.
Note: The audio version of this podcast episode is not out yet. But we released the video version on April 30, which is the International Day to End Corporal Punishment.
Show length: 16 min.
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Ending Corporal Punishment Starts With Community - IDRA Classnotes Video Podcast #256
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Quotes
“If we rely on fear, we’re really destabilizing school environments rather than investing in what we know works to keep kids safe.”
Morgan Craven, J.D.
“Corporal punishment sometimes may produce a moment of silence, but it doesn’t produce understanding. It doesn’t produce responsibility or trust and too often it leaves lasting harm, especially for students who are already carrying the weight of inequity.”
Aurelio Montemayor, M.Ed.
“What we want to do is have systems in place that encourage strong relationships where people understand what’s going on with the young people in the school. They are connected to them. They know their families. And they have those strong relationships. Positive, strong relationships are the root of learning.”
Morgan Craven, J.D.
Resources
End Corporal Punishment in Schools, IDRA webpage
Hitting Hurts – The Case for Ending Corporal Punishment in Texas, IDRA Issue Brief, by Morgan Craven, J.D., and Joanna D. Sánchez, Ph.D., April 2023, updated 2024 (available in English and Spanish)
Restorative Practices Can Prevent and Heal Bias-based Harm, by Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., IDRA Newsletter, August 2024
IDRA Family Leadership in Education Model, IDRA webpage
IDRA School Discipline – Online Technical Assistance Toolkit
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