Summary

Our top legislative priority is to protect all California children from corporal punishment in schools. To do this, we seek a simple but critical amendment to Education Code § 49000 and Education Code § 49001 that adds “private school” to the existing language that currently protects only public-school students. No child’s safety should depend on the type of school they attend.

Problem

California law bans corporal punishment in public schools, but leaves children in private schools without the same protections.

This legal gap means that hundreds of thousands of students (545,740 students in 2024-2025) are not legally protected to physical discipline at school, which research shows harms children’s physical and mental health.

Solution

Introduce and support legislation amending Education Code § 49001 and 49001 to explicitly include “private” schools. This small change closes a long-standing loophole and ensures that every child in California, regardless of school type, is protected from corporal punishment.

Cost

Drafting and introducing a bill may involve routine administrative or legal fees. To support this effort, donations from individual contributors aligned with BanHittingKids.com and the U.S. Alliance to End the Hitting of Children may be offered. The anticipated fiscal impact is minimal, while the benefit to children’s safety and well-being is substantial.

Organizational support

• U.S. Alliance to End the Hitting of Children

• Legislators and individuals who supported the 2019 California Democratic Party resolution (section 33)

• World Health Organization, which calls which calls for the elimination of all corporal punishment worldwide by 2030 due to the “scientific evidence that child corporal punishment carries multiple risks of harm and has no benefits for children, parents, or societies”

• American Academy of Pediatrics states “the use of corporal punishment in schools is not an effective or ethical method for management of behavior concerns and causes harm to students.”

Arguments in support

Physical punishment is associated with increased anxiety, depression, toxic stress, and negative long-term health outcomes, even when considered “mild.” Leading medical and child-development organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization, agree that hitting children undermines emotional regulation, trust, and healthy development.

This legislation ensures equal protection under the law. While corporal punishment is already prohibited in public schools, children in private schools currently lack the same legal safeguards. Children deserve the same standard of care and safety, regardless of where they learn.

This is a practical, low-cost policy with high impact. It requires a straightforward statutory update, aligns California with other states that have taken this step, and reflects modern scientific understanding of effective discipline.

Potential organizational opposition

• Private school institutions

• Faith-based school associations

• Parental-rights or small-government advocacy groups

Potential arguments in opposition

Opposition may claim that private schools should retain the right to discipline students according to internal policies, that banning corporal punishment interferes with religious or parental rights, or that state oversight is government overreach.

However, decades of research show corporal punishment harms children’s mental and physical health. Every child, regardless of school type, deserves protection from hitting and physical discipline. Institutional or ideological preferences cannot outweigh the right to a safe, violence-free childhood.

Success in other states

Five U.S. states have banned corporal punishment in both public and private schools: New Jersey, Iowa, Maryland, New York, and Illinois.

Illinois’ private school ban went into effect in January 2025. House Bill 4175 amended the Illinois School Code to explicitly “nonpublic elementary or secondary school,” ensuring that all students in the state are protected.

Another recent legislative development came from Massachusetts, where Bill H.625 was introduced to ban corporal punishment in private schools, extending protections that already exist for public-school students.

Closing this legal gap is possible. These states demonstrate a proven path forward, supported by decades of research confirming that corporal punishment harms children’s physical and mental health. California can follow this model to ensure every child is protected, no matter what type of school they attend.

Contact us at info@banhittingkids.com for support in moving this legislation forward.