Nineteen U.S. states currently allow teachers and public school personnel to use corporal punishment, such as paddling or other physical discipline, on students from preschool through 12th grade. These states are predominantly in the South and include:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Arizona
• Colorado
• Florida
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Missouri
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Wyoming

Corporal punishment is most prevalent in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi, where a significant percentage of schools use it regularly. In other states on the list, its use is much less common or nearly eliminated. Even in states where corporal punishment is legal, individual school districts or principals can decide whether to use it

. Private schools in most states also retain the legal right to use corporal punishment, except in a few states like Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York where it is banned in both public and private schools

. In summary, teachers can legally hit students in these 19 states, with the practice mostly concentrated in the southeastern U.S. However, many states have banned corporal punishment altogether, and its use is declining overall