US schools bring back corporal punishment

The schools will require the parents' permission before using corporal punishment. Photo / Getty

Three schools in the US state of Texas have reportedly brought back corporal punishment.

The schools, with students aged 4 to 18, are bringing back the wooden paddle to punish bad behaviour.

Misbehaving students will receive one paddling for each misdemeanour, if parents grant the school permission to do so.

The students' parents will be asked upon enrolment whether they consent to corporal punishment.

"If the parent is not comfortable with it, that's the end of the discussion", Three Rivers Independent Schools District Superintendent Mary Springs said.

The policy is being introduced after the elementary schools' campus behaviour co-ordinator Andrew Amaro pitched it to the board.

He says the wooden paddle worked for him when he was a schoolboy.

"It was an immediate response for me. I knew that if I got in trouble with a teacher and I was disrespectful, whatever the infraction was, I knew I was going to get a swat by the principal."

The proposal was approved unanimously by the board and the schools say a track log of corporal punishment will be kept in order to track its efficiency.

"If it reduces the number of discipline referrals, then that is a good thing." Springs added.