Switch (corporal punishment)

A switch is a flexible rod which is typically used for corporal punishment. Switching is similar to birching.

Switches are typically made of strong and flexible wood such as hazel, birch, or hickory.^{[citation needed]} Willow branches are also used, as well as branches from strong trees and large shrubs. Switches are often from a garden or an orchard nearby, or taken from the wild. In the Southeastern United States, fresh-cut, flexible cane (Arundinaria) is commonly used.^{[citation needed]}

Making a switch involves cutting it from the stem and removing twigs or directly attached leaves.^{[citation needed]} For optimal flexibility, it is cut fresh shortly before use, rather than keeping it for re-use over time.^{[citation needed]} Some parents decide to make the cutting of a switch an additional form of punishment for a child, by requiring the disobedient child to cut their own switch.^{[citation needed]}

The tamarind switch (in Creole English tambran switch) is a judicial birch-like instrument for corporal punishment made from three tamarind rods, braided and oiled, used long after independence in the Commonwealth Caribbean island states of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.^{[failed verification]}

In the 20th and 21st centuries the use of corporal punishment has been criticized, in both North America and Europe.