In such cases, that’s when I go to the theory – and current research on corporal punishment of girls is fairly unambiguous and unequivocal. It’s a bad idea in general terms. Are there exceptions? Almost certainly – but until somebody can show me some sort of reliable way of identifying those exceptions, that’s not all that helpful.
When I look at data that seems to clearly indicate corporal punishment might be genuinely useful and not significantly risky for less than 5% of girls and there’s no data whatsoever on how to identify that 5%, that leads me to a pretty clear position.
Now, I’m on the council of my schools sister school. They do, occasionally use corporal punishment with girls. Their Principal – with a great deal more experience of educating girls than me – believes she can make reasonable judgements as to who will benefit and they also generally use it in cases where the alternative is also potentially damaging (suspension or expulsion). Maybe it can be made to work – and I’m not opposed to that. But if I can’t see how to make it work myself, I’m not going to advocate it as any type of general policy.
