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Corporal Punishment in Child Care & Education Institutions

JULY 1985

BE IT RESOLVED, that the American Bar Association opposes the use of corporal punishment in institutions where children are cared for or educated and urges that state laws which permit such corporal punishment be amended accordingly.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Association does not oppose such force as is reasonable and necessary to quell a disturbance threatening physical injury to persons or property, to remove a child causing a disturbance who refuses to cease or to leave when so ordered by the authority, or to obtain possession of weapons or other dangerous objects upon the person or within the control of the child. In addition, the use of accepted educational techniques and treatment approaches used as behavior modification for seriously disabled children does not constitute corporal punishment.