The school district in Cassville, a small town in southern Missouri, is reinstating caning.
With the consent of the parents, from the 2022/2023 school year onwards, teachers may again use the wooden stick to punish children and young people.
In a survey of students, parents and teachers last June, the majority of those questioned spoke out in favor of reintroducing caning.
However, the wooden stick may only be used in a “reasonable form”.
In addition, the regulation stipulates that the school must have exhausted all other means of disciplining beforehand.
It also requires notification of parents prior to so-called "spanking."
By the late 1970s, caning had been abolished in most American schools.
However, the Supreme Court held at the time that physical violence against students did not constitute a violation of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution on the reasonableness of punishment.
As the Society for Research into Child Development researched, spanking is still allowed in about 20 American states.