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A switch is a flexible rod which is typically used for corporal punishment. [1] 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 Caribbean Commonwealth island states of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. [2] [ failed verification ]
In the 20th and 21st centuries the use of corporal punishment has been criticized, in both North America and Europe. [3]