One hundred years ago in industrial countries, children worked eighteen hours a day in a factory at age seven. The factory owner could beat a child who fell asleep or was not fast enough. Both parents and teachers could do whatever they liked to children because children had no protection under the law.
Today, there are many laws to protect children all over the world.Some people think think that children must obey rules or be punished.Other people do not agree.The Inuit, or Eskimos, in Alaska almost never hit their children.If the children don't obey, the parents make fun of them.
Children in the United States are not as lucky as Inuit children.Parents can spank their children at home.Similarly, schools can punish children by spanking or hitting as long as it is "reasonable".There are rules about what is reasonable.These rules look at the child's past behavior, why the person is hitting the child, and so on.However, the law says that officials cannot hit people in prisons or mental hospitals in the United States. Some people think it is not fair that official can hit schoolchildren and not prisoners.Many school districts have their own laws and rules that forbid hitting students.These laws change from state to state.It really depends on where you live in the United States.In contrast, In Sweden, it is against the law for anyone-parent or teacher-to hit a child.
In the United States, all children must go to school until the age of sixteen.However,in some states,like Hawaii,Utah,and Washington,children must attend school until the age of eighteen! A child cannot miss school without an acceptable excuse.There are laws about this.illness, a death in the family, or an emergency is an acceptable excuse for missing a class or a whole day.Schools are very serious about school attendance.