This brief is part of the UNICEF Multi-Country Study on the Drivers of Violence Affecting Children. It finds that corporal punishment in schools is highly prevalent, despite legal prohibition, with younger children, boys, and poor children at greater risk.

This is partly a result of continued disagreement on whether or not the use of corporal punishment has lasting impact on children’s development. This brief is a non-technical summary of research which uses longitudinal data from the Young Lives study to ask: does corporal punishment in schools help or hinder children’s learning?