Ending corporal punishment in schools to transform education for all children

Can you learn when you are afraid? Can you experience the transformative power of education when your teacher beats you? How can you learn the skills for employment if school is a dangerous place? The evidence tells us over and over again that violent punishment - and the fear, anger and humiliation it creates - stops children from learning. As well as causing physical and psychological harm, it affects children’s brain and cognitive development, leads to lower educational achievement, prevents them from building healthy relationships, causes school dropout and has many other negative short- and long-term impacts for both the individual and society. Corporal punishment in schools undermines everything that education aims to achieve - and yet it remains lawful for half the global school-age population, and a weekly or even daily experience for vast numbers of children around the world. Its prevalence combined with its harmful impacts mean that the vital benefits of education for children and societies are wasted