This paper presents examples of types of corporal punishment and a content analysis of newspaper articles since 1977 dealing with corporal punishment in public and nonpublic schools. Examples are used to illustrate types of punishment, paddling injuries, injuries to other parts of the body, special punishments devised by teachers, deaths due to physical punishment, and punishments administered to special education students. The content analysis used 212 reports which contained data on the sex and job position of the educator, the sex and age of the student, the nature of the infraction, and the severity of the punishment. Student infractions were divided into violent and nonviolent categories. Punishments were divided into cases that required medical treatment, cases that resulted in physical injury not requiring medical treatment, and cases thought by parents to be improperly administered. Results indicated differences by sex in the frequency of both meting out and receiving punishment. The incidence of punishment was found to increase up to junior high school, and severity of the punishment was found to be related to sex but not to age or to the violence of the offense. Results are discussed in terms of the educational system and prevailing cultural norms. It is concluded that lawsuits may provide the impetus for the development of more adequate guidelines for the use of corporal punishement. However, the failure of current guidelines to protect children suggests that corporal punishment should be abolished. (CB)