RALEIGH — North Carolina's state school board says it opposes using physical pain to enforce discipline, saying corporal punishment does more harm than good.

The N.C. State Board of Education on Thursday approved a statement opposing corporal punishment, which is still allowed in a dozen or so of the state's 115 districts. The state board's resolution does not ask the General Assembly to outlaw the practice.

The number of children being paddled in public schools is falling fast.

The state school board says corporal punishment can harm students physically, mentally and emotionally and there are many other ways to maintain discipline.

A report last month found corporal punishment was used about 400 times statewide during the last school year, less than half of the 890 cases reported the previous year.