Ms. Kahn’s students are discussing corporal approaches to punishment in schools and at home.

“Spanking and all physical punishment should be against the law for everyone,” exclaims Viet Ly. “If I have kids when I’m older, I won’t ever spank them. And I definitely don’t think teachers should be able to hit kids.”

“I understand Viet Ly’s point,” says Jonah, “but Americans really value their privacy and independence. Parents don’t want the government invading their homes and telling them how to raise their own children. It’s a violation of their rights.”

“Maybe they won’t like it, but the law already consists of rules telling people what to do at home and at school,” argues Rashad. “Besides, hitting kids to make them behave better doesn’t even work, does it Ms. Kahn?”

“Well, Rashad, there is a lot of research suggesting that corporal punishment may do more harm than good,” said Ms. Kahn. “But doing scientific research on something like corporal punishment is difficult. Can you, Jonah, and Viet Ly get together and brainstorm reasons why?”

Here are some of the ideas Ms. Kahn’s students had about the challenges of doing research on corporal punishment.

Discussion Question:

If you were a researcher trying to gather information about sensitive issues like corporal punishment, how could you secure honest information and guarantee privacy to your participants?