SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — No student in Illinois would be able to receive physical punishment like slapping or paddling if the governor signs a bill on his desk.

A bill amending Illinois’s School Code would ban all school personnel, including ones in non-public schools, from administering corporal punishment on students passed both chambers of the legislature last month. Corporal punishment is defined as “a discipline method in which a person deliberately inflicts pain upon a student in response to the student’s unacceptable behavior or inappropriate language, with an aim to halt an offense, prevent its recurrence, or set an example for others.” 

The bill received bipartisan support, as it passed the House 79-26 and the Senate 51-8.

“No child in our state should be subject to corporal punishment in their school,” said State Rep. Margaret Croke (D-Chicago), the bill’s House sponsor. “Allowing these types of punishments is unacceptable and harmful to young people, with proven long-lasting implications. I’m grateful to see this legislation head to the Governor’s desk to ensure that both public and private schools throughout Illinois are safe spaces for our children.”

The use of corporal punishment in public schools was banned in the state in 1994. Illinois would become the fifth state after New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Iowa to ban the practice in private schools.

Many medical organizations, including the American Psychological Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization, advise against using physical punishment for penalizing children. Experts have found a correlation between students experiencing physical punishment and experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression.

“Use of physical discipline predicts increases—not decreases—in children’s behavior problems over time, even after race, gender, and family socioeconomic status have been statistically controlled,” part of the American Psychological Association’s resolution against physical discipline on children said.