Thursday, October 26, 2023
Corporal Punishment in Private Schools Is Outlawed in New York
New York has banned the use of corporal punishment in all private schools, making it one of just a handful of states in the nation to bar teachers in all types of schools from hitting students.
The law, which was signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday after being unanimously approved by the State Legislature in June, was proposed in response to a New York Times investigation that revealed the use of corporal punishment in many schools in the Hasidic Jewish community. The ban will apply to all private schools.
"Corporal punishment is unacceptable," Ms. Hochul said in a statement. "This new law will ensure students in every New York school are protected from mistreatment."
Corporal punishment, defined as "any act of physical force upon a pupil for the purpose of punishing that pupil," has been prohibited in New York's public schools since 1985. But there was such no such ban on the punishment in private schools.
When lawmakers began discussing the bill earlier this year, they learned that Iowa and New Jersey were the only states that had a total ban, according to research done by the Legislature. In July, Maryland also banned such punishments.
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The Times series, drawing on 911 calls and interviews with dozens of recent students, showed that teachers in many Hasidic all-boys schools had made regular use of corporal punishment.
Representatives of the Hasidic schools have said that their instructors do not use corporal punishment and that any isolated incidents occurred less frequently than in other types of schools.
On Thursday, Richard Bamberger, a spokesman for some Hasidic yeshivas, said in a statement that leaders of the schools had no issue with the new law.
"Yeshivas don't engage in corporal punishment and did not have any opposition to this bill," Mr. Bamberger said. "What they do oppose is the inaccurate suggestion that the legislation arose because of an abuse problem in yeshivas, which the Senate sponsor publicly stated is false."
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