Corporal Punishment & The Gender Disadvantage17

When boys behaviour is overall improved by the existence of corporal punishment and there’s a very low chance of negative side effects, they are not disadvantaged by the fact that it isn’t used on girls if that decision was taken because behaviour was unlikely to improve enough to justify the identifiable risks. Disadvantage, instead, occurs when decisions directly affecting boys are made on the needs of girls, or vice versa. A decision as to how boys should be punished should be based on what boys need – not on what girls need. A decision as to how girls should be punished should be based on what girls need – not on what boys need. Sometimes the decision should be the same, because the needs are the same. That’s fine. But if the needs aren’t the same, then differentiation is fine as well.