Are Swats Still Legal in Lubbock Schools?

Texas law still permits corporal punishment in public schools. The law defines it as deliberately causing physical pain by hitting, paddling, spanking, slapping or using other physical force as discipline. However, a school district must first adopt a policy allowing it. Parents can prohibit the punishment for their child by submitting a written, signed statement each school year.

Now for the good news—at least for Lubbock students.

Lubbock Independent School District removed corporal punishment from its discipline policy in 2020. The district’s current 2026–27 Student Handbook says students may not be spanked, paddled or subjected to other physical force as punishment.

That makes six years without swats, and somehow the entire school system has continued operating without principals walking the halls carrying wooden paddles.

I think my own story explains why swats were never an especially smart or effective solution.

There Are Better Ways To Discipline Kids In Lubbock Schools

Detention, suspension, losing privileges and having your parents called can be much bigger threats to a kid. I was willing to take the pain just to avoid waking up earlier. That is not discipline changing behavior. That is a teenager selecting the most convenient item from the punishment menu.

There are also far too many gray areas. How hard is too hard? How many swats are too many? Who administers them? Should a male employee paddle a female student? What happens when a child is injured? What happens when an angry adult crosses the line between discipline and retaliation?

Read More: Lubbock School Zones Are Now Active

I attended a school without corporal punishment before spending my final two years at a school that allowed it. Not once did the threat of swats stop me from acting up. Not once.

Maybe they worked on other students, but they certainly did not install any wisdom in me through my backside.

I am personally glad swats are gone from Lubbock ISD schools. Schools have plenty of disciplinary options that do not involve one adult hitting someone else’s child.

The final decision about corporal punishment belongs at home—and even there, parents should remember that causing pain and teaching a lesson are not always the same thing.