The purpose of this study was to examine whether exchanging opinions in a high school classroom setting affected the participants' beliefs regarding corporal punishment. The students' opinions regarding the idea that “young children should never be physically punished under any circumstances" were explored before and after the discussion. A text mining analysis was conducted to scrutinize the reasons behind the students’ opinions. It was found that there was significant change in the percentage of students who were for and against corporal punishment due to the discussion. After exchanging their opinions, the high school students tended to change their viewpoint and support corporal punishment. They stated that such action could not be avoided in some circumstances. This is justified by their conclusion that words alone could never tell young children others' pain.

本稿は平成22-23年度科学研究費補助金（若手研究(B)，研究代表者: 越中康治，課題番号22730510)の補助を受けたものである。