State legislators introduced a bill Wednesday that would remove paddling as an option for doling out discipline in Tennessee schools.

Though many districts do not allow corporal punishment, some schools let teachers provide physical punishment — in the form of being spanked with a paddle — when students misbehave.

A state representative from Nashville believes that teacher discretion and inconsistency in protocol across the state about what actions warrant corporal punishment are at issue.

“The lack of consistency in the state in how physical punishment is administered seems to me to not make a lot of sense,” Democratic Rep. Jason Powell said in an interview with The Tennessean. “It can expose our teachers and school systems to lawsuits and legal action over an excessive use of corporal punishment.”

Powell said the issue came to his attention after he held a bill submission contest, in which Tennesseans wrote to him about legislation that interested them.

Because Nashville schools do not allow corporal punishment, Powell said he was unaware it still went on in the state. After reading bill submissions from Tennessee residents, he started looking into the law.

Thirty-one states ban corporal punishment.

Opponents say corporal punishment does little to change a child’s behavior and instead affects children emotionally and physically. Supporters say it is a straightforward and effective way to handle discipline.