Edutopia News flags up an article by Ed Stoddard of Reuters: Corporal Punishment Seen Rife in U.S. Schools.
More than 200,000 children were hit as punishment in U.S. schools last year and in the South more blacks than whites are struck, two human rights groups said in a report released on Wednesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/story//nm/20080820/us_nm/usa_schools_punishment_dc