More than 28,500 students were spanked as a form of discipline in Georgia public schools last year.
The latest annual report is out from the Georgia Department of Education called Counts of Discipline Actions. It reveals that corporal punishment was more prevalent in rural counties and in the southern parts of the state.
Laurens County led the state with more than 2,400 students who got paddled. Randolph County was second, with almost 1600 students getting corporal punishment in 2009.
In counties surrounding the city of Atlanta, including Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb and Clayton, spanking was non-existent. Georgia law has allowed the use of corporal punishment since the 1960s, according to a report by Georgia Public Broadcasting.
A bill is pending in Congress that would outlaw spanking as a form of punishment in schools nationwide, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY).