When and How Corporal Punishment May Be Administered

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Education
  4. Elementary and Secondary Education
  5. Students
  6. Discipline
  7. Corporal Punishment
  8. When and How Corporal Punishment May Be Administered

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An area, county, or independent board of education may, upon the adoption of written policies, authorize any principal or teacher employed by the board to administer, in the exercise of his sound discretion, corporal punishment on any pupil or pupils placed under his supervision in order to maintain proper control and discipline. Any such authorization shall be subject to the following requirements:

  1. The corporal punishment shall not be excessive or unduly severe;
  2. Corporal punishment shall never be used as a first line of punishment for misbehavior unless the pupil was informed beforehand that specific misbehavior could occasion its use; provided, however, that corporal punishment may be employed as a first line of punishment for those acts of misconduct which are so antisocial or disruptive in nature as to shock the conscience;
  3. Corporal punishment must be administered in the presence of a principal or assistant principal, or the designee of the principal or assistant principal, employed by the board of education authorizing such punishment, and the other principal or assistant principal, or the designee of the principal or assistant principal, must be informed beforehand and in the presence of the pupil of the reason for the punishment;
  4. The principal or teacher who administered corporal punishment must provide the child's parent, upon request, a written explanation of the reasons for the punishment and the name of the principal or assistant principal, or designee of the principal or assistant principal, who was present; provided, however, that such an explanation shall not be used as evidence in any subsequent civil action brought as a result of the corporal punishment; and
  5. Corporal punishment shall not be administered to a child whose parents or legal guardian has upon the day of enrollment of the pupil filed with the principal of the school a statement from a medical doctor licensed in Georgia stating that it is detrimental to the child's mental or emotional stability.

(Ga. L. 1964, p. 673, § 2; Ga. L. 1977, p. 1290, § 1.)

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 68 Am. Jur. 2d, Schools, § 314 et seq., 321.

Public School Liability: Constitutional Tort Claims for Excessive Punishment and Failure to Supervise Students, 48 Am. Jur. Trials 587.

C.J.S.

- 78A C.J.S., Schools and School Districts, §§ 1089, 1090.

ALR.

- Personal liability of school authorities for dismissal or suspension of pupil, 42 A.L.R. 763.

Teacher's civil liability for administering corporal punishment to pupil, 43 A.L.R.2d 469.

Criminal liability for excessive or improper punishment inflicted on child by parent, teacher, or one in loco parentis, 89 A.L.R.2d 396.


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