Corporal punishment news chronology 2015

January -- 19 items

February -- 6 items

March -- 10 items

April -- 6 items

May -- 8 items

June -- 5 items

July -- 9 items

August -- 6 items

September -- 5 items

October -- 4 items

November -- 9 items

December -- 5 items

January 2015

01 JAN....MALAYSIA: Man gets nine years for posing as Johor royal (illustrated)
Fraudster, 28, pictured, is also ordered to receive 16 strokes of the rotan

02 JAN....UNITED STATES: Sheriff's deputy called to home to witness father spanking his daughter with a paddle (with video clip)
Florida Undersheriff says he has personally supervised 12 spankings

05 JAN....INDIA: 'Creep' publicly spanked for harassing schoolgirls (illustrated)
Camera catches policewoman making 23-year-old bend over for a whipping in the street

08 JAN....SAUDI ARABIA: Blogger sentenced to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes (illustrated)
Flogging of activist Raif Badawi, pictured, set to go ahead

10 JAN....SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi blogger receives first 50 lashes of sentence for 'insulting Islam' (with video clip)
First instalment of public flogging is captured on video

10 JAN....SINGAPORE: Trio given jail, caning over rape of pub waitress (illustrated)
Three twentysomethings, pictured, are ordered to receive corporal punishment

17 JAN....BARBADOS: Lash them! Senator Durant for using the rod
CP should be encouraged, says cleric and politician

17 JAN....MALAYSIA: Local, jailed for smartphone snatching, also given cane on appeal (illustrated)
A three-stroke whipping added to sentence for 22-year-old, pictured

17 JAN....ZIMBABWE: High Court outlaws caning of offenders
Long tradition of juvenile JCP comes to an end

21 JAN....SAUDI ARABIA: UK condemns blogger flogging
Britain deplores such punishment, says Foreign Secretary

21 JAN....SINGAPORE: Student from China gets jail, caning for graffiti offences
Six strokes of the cane for 21-year-old

22 JAN....UNITED STATES: Another WNC school district drops corporal punishment
No more paddling in Swain County, N. Carolina

22 JAN....UNITED STATES: Report: Ban corporal punishment in Florida schools
But educators support it because it helps improve behavior and keeps students in class

26 JAN....BARBADOS: Wild youth
Teachers' union leaders say corporal punishment is what works for school discipline

26 JAN....MALAYSIA: Court caning of minors may end
Government proposes abolition of courts' right to cane youths on the spot

27 JAN....SINGAPORE: Ringleader gets jail, caning for several offences (illustrated)
Graffiti is pictured that led to three-stroke sentence for vandal, 26

29 JAN....UNITED STATES: Former little league coach arrested for spanking players
North Carolina law "allows for someone to spank someone else's child"

30 JAN....ZIMBABWE: Teachers demand right to cane pupils
Removal of CP is turning schools into jungles, they say

31 JAN....ZIMBABWE: Magistrate attacks juvenile caning ban
There are many benefits to caning young offenders, he says

February 2015

01 FEB....MALAYSIA: Caning necessary to educate and discipline - Union
It is needed for the handful of students who are stubborn, say teachers

07 FEB....THE WORLD: The whip, the cane and the birch
Overview of JCP history and practice in various countries

12 FEB....MALAYSIA: Robbers get nine years' jail caning (illustrated)
Two twentysomethings, pictured, get two strokes each

12 FEB....UNITED STATES: Proposed bill would ban paddling, an option one ET district still considers (with video clip)
Tennessee politician wants to outlaw CP, but a school boss says it is effective

19 FEB....SWAZILAND: Mayiwane head teacher admits giving pupil 15 strokes
Caning of high-school boys is described

26 FEB....SINGAPORE: Aborted air pistol bank robbery backfires on exec (illustrated)
Six strokes of the cane for 31-year-old, pictured

March 2015

03 MAR....NIGERIA: Butcher caned for stealing laptops
12 strokes of the cane for housebreaker, 18

05 MAR....SINGAPORE: Caning not unconstitutional: Apex court (illustrated)
Court of appeal dismisses claim by drug trafficker, pictured; upholds his 15-stroke sentence

05 MAR....SINGAPORE: The invisible scars left by strikes of the cane (illustrated)
German report gives diagram of caning procedure, discusses JCP around the world

05 MAR....UNITED STATES: Millennials like to spank their kids just as much as their parents did (illustrated)
Statistical charts show no decline in Americans' support for parental CP

06 MAR....SINGAPORE: German vandals get 9 months, 3 strokes (illustrated) (with video clip)
Two youths, 21 and 22, pictured, sentenced for breaking into depot and spraying graffiti on a train, pictured

08 MAR....SINGAPORE: Same standards for everyone, says AGC of caning
Authorities reject criticism of German vandals' caning sentence

08 MAR....FRANCE: France holds back the anti-smacking tide (with cartoon)
French parents still believe in spanking their kids

20 MAR....NIGERIA: Student ordered to sweep court premises for attempting to steal
18-year-old is also ordered to be given seven strokes of the cane

21 MAR....SINGAPORE: Sex predator gets 30 years' jail, maximum 24 strokes (illustrated)
31-year-old, pictured, abused 31 young boys

26 MAR....SINGAPORE: Man gets three years' jail, six strokes for rioting (illustrated)
Caning sentence on rioter, 21, pictured, who punched and kicked two men

April 2015

04 APR....MALAYSIA: Riding a tiger: A floundering government indulges call to toughen Islamic law
Growing call for Sharia law in Kelantan state

05 APR....UNITED STATES: Different schools of thought on paddling
A look at the school CP situation in Florida

15 APR....NIGERIA: Student receives six strokes of cane for stealing sandals
19-year-old stole while shop owner was at mosque

16 APR....UNITED STATES: Natchitoches educator charged in 2nd incident at school
Louisiana Asst. Principal accused of paddling female teacher

22 APR....MALAYSIA: No plans to review caning, says Wan Junaidi
Government will not interfere with courts' power to cane juveniles

28 APR....UNITED STATES: MPISD shuffling more administrators
Texas school district changes the rules so that administrators may spank students of opposite sex

May 2015

05 MAY....UNITED STATES: Corporal Punishment By the Numbers (with video clip)
Paddling statistics for some Texas school districts

08 MAY....SINGAPORE: Man jailed, caned for molesting teen at carpark
Army sergeant, 22, receives three strokes

12 MAY....CANADA: Opinion: Time and place for spanking
Parental corporal punishment can yield good outcomes, argues activist

12 MAY....SINGAPORE: Serial offender broke into flats to steal, molest women (illustrated)
Train driver, 31, pictured, sentenced to five years and nine strokes of the cane

15 MAY....MALAYSIA: Three jailed 14 years, whippings for robbery (illustrated)
Three twentysomethings, pictured, ordered to receive six strokes each

21 MAY....MALAYSIA: MH370 theft: Mechanic gets jail, rotan (illustrated) (with video clip)
Three strokes of the cane for 34-year-old, pictured

28 MAY....SINGAPORE: Malaysian gets 17 years' jail for robbing, raping foreign national (illustrated)
And 24 strokes of the cane for 27-year-old, pictured

28 MAY....SINGAPORE: Kallang Bahru rapist jailed for 13 years (illustrated)
Storeman, 24, pictured, also ordered to receive 18 strokes of the cane

June 2015

10 JUN....MALAYSIA: Courthouse drama as convict flees (illustrated)
26-year-old, pictured, is recaptured and sentenced to 6 years and 2 strokes

15 JUN....FIJI: Fiji to stop flogging girls who stay out late
Or wearing their hair too long or wearing shorts. But village chiefs want to retain it

17 JUN....ZIMBABWE: The return of corporal punishment in Zim
Constitutional Court provisionally overturns judicial juvenile caning ban, also OKs school and domestic CP

19 JUN....BARBADOS: Place for flogging in schools
Letter-writer supports the retention of caning to dissuade disruptive behaviour

25 JUN....UNITED STATES: Spanking Children In Massachusetts: First Ever Guidelines By Supreme Judicial Court
It's OK if it is reasonable and does not cause physical harm

July 2015

01 JUL....IRAN: 480 sentenced to lashing in Iran city for eating during Ramadan (illustrated)
Mass punishment in Shiraz; file picture of a public lashing

05 JUL....UNITED STATES: Our view: Spanking, abuse and discipline
California newspaper takes a dim view of court sentence on man for disciplining his teenage son with a belt

09 JUL....UNITED STATES: Bush student spanking prescription resonates
Would-be presidential candidate had once praised Florida school district for its use of paddling

10 JUL....UNITED STATES: OKC social worker accused of paddling minors faces charges (with video clip)
Two Oklahoma boys 'were offered choice of corporal discipline or court appearance'

22 JUL....UNITED STATES: Counselors being indicted for spanking troubled youths in Boston
Eight former youth workers accused of using CP on teens at residential facility

24 JUL....SINGAPORE: Ex-YOG cyclist gets jail, cane for drug offences (illustrated)
Former sports star, 22, pictured, receives five strokes

28 JUL....UNITED STATES: Paddling no longer in Lake's school code
Abolition of CP in a Florida district

29 JUL....UNITED STATES: System to ban corporal punishment in two schools
No more paddling in an Alabama district

29 JUL....ZIMBABWE: 15-year-old to be caned for raping Grade 4 pupil
Three strokes for boy following restitution of JCP

August 2015

06 AUG....UNITED STATES: School board discusses changes
A Texas school district decides to increase CP use at middle and high schools

11 AUG....UNITED STATES: Schools set up 'no tolerance' against fights
New paddling policy in an Alabama school district

15 AUG....SOUTH AFRICA: Youth need a beating to set them on right path
It was a big mistake removing CP from schools, opines letter-writer

17 AUG....ZIMBABWE: Boy (14) to be caned for sodomy
Court orders two strokes of the cane plus suspended jail term

27 AUG....NIGERIA: Teenager receives 5 lashes for stealing iron rods
Boy, 14, caned for robbing shop

28 AUG....BOTSWANA: Lashed: Beer thief gets seven strokes of the cane
33-year-old, pictured, is punished with "cane on bare buttocks"

September 2015

02 SEP....AFGHANISTAN: Amnesty International Condemns Afghan Punishment For 'Adultery' (illustrated) (with video clip)
Film shows man and woman receiving a public whipping

08 SEP....SOUTH AFRICA: Bloem school investigated for corporal punishment (with video clip)
Film gives brief glimpse of canings under way

11 SEP....UNITED STATES: Paddling, still allowed in Kentucky schools, a fading form of discipline
Half the state's 173 public school districts allow CP: statistics given

17 SEP....ZIMBABWE: Teenager to be caned for raping niece (6)
Five strokes ordered for 18-year-old

19 SEP....INDONESIA: Dozens of sharia violators caned in Aceh (illustrated)
34 offenders punished in public; caning of woman is pictured

October 2015

06 OCT....NIGERIA: Man sentenced to six strokes of cane for stealing car stereo
24-year-old opts for a caning rather than pay magistrates' court fine

15 OCT....ZIMBABWE: Corporal punishment permissible: Concourt
Question of constitutionality of JCP deferred; Court confirms that school caning remains lawful

16 OCT....MALAYSIA: Youth jailed for robbing woman of her money (illustrated)
Six years in jail and three strokes of the rotan for culprit, 22, pictured

31 OCT....MALAYSIA: Caning for culprits behind illegal ads
Mayor of Kuala Lumpur wants JCP introduced for flyposting

November 2015

02 NOV....UNITED STATES: Man Finds School Paddle From 1968 Hidden Inside Wall in Kennewick (illustrated)
In Washington State, paddle with signed names is pictured

06 NOV....UNITED STATES: The strong bond that almost led Leonard Fournette to Alabama
Football stars who all felt the paddle at St Augustine High School in New Orleans

10 NOV....IRELAND: Mayor of Clare urges corporal punishment for criminals
It would be better than prison for rural burglars, who are "treated like royalty", he says

11 NOV....UNITED STATES: When School Feels Like Jail (illustrated)
Long article on school discipline in Mississippi; CP procedure described; picture of paddle on table in a middle-school gym class

12 NOV....UNITED STATES: Superintendent discusses new corporal punishment policy at parent summit
Paddling reintroduced in a Texas district as high-school students are leaving for neighbouring districts where classes are not disrupted because CP is used

24 NOV....UNITED STATES: Paddling students more prevalent in rural Coastal Bend school districts (illustrated)
Overview of CP policy and practice in southern Texas; a paddle is pictured

26 NOV....MALAYSIA: Eight light strokes for rape of underage girl
Caning-only sentence on 18-year-old by Juvenile Court

26 NOV....MALAYSIA: Two youths given maximum jail sentence for rape (illustrated)
Plus heavy caning sentences for culprits aged 21 and 22, pictured

30 NOV....ANTIGUA & BARBUDA: Antonio: Corporal punishment not ruled out of National Discipline Policy
Schools will still be able to use the strap

December 2015

03 DEC....MALAYSIA: No caning of minors under amended Child Act
Government proposes to abolish juvenile judicial CP

21 DEC....JAMAICA: Vengeance and corporal punishment not the same -- Hall
School CP is a deterrent to undesired behaviour and should be retained, says teachers' union leader

23 DEC....CANADA: Spanking is worthy discipline
Domestic CP option needs to be kept alive, opines newspaper editorial

23 DEC....SINGAPORE: Man gets jail, caning for slashing cabby (illustrated)
22-year-old, pictured, is sentenced to three strokes

23 DEC....ZIMBABWE: Boy, 16, offers $50 lobola for pregnant girl, 13
He is sentenced to four strokes of the cane for rape

Archive 2015 (same information as on this page, but sorted by country and month, with links to overall month/country pages, but not to individual news items)

News Chronology 2013

News Chronology 2014

News Chronology 2016