Boston Herald – Tuesday, November 27, 2007, via Overlawyered.com:
Parents who spank their kids – even in their own homes – would be slapped by the long arm of the law under an Arlington nurse’s proposal to make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to outlaw corporal punishment.
Kathleen Wolf’s proposed legislation will be debated at a State House hearing tomorrow morning.
If signed into law, parents would be prohibited from forcefully laying a hand on any child under age 18 unless it was to wrest them from danger, lest they be charged with abuse or neglect.
hmm is that Jordan Capri?
Heh. Am I the only one thinking the post was simnply an excuse to use that picture?
Before you take the whole Commonwealth to task, you should know that the Massachusetts Constitution allows any citizen to propose any law they want and it must be submitted to the legislature as a bill. This citizen has apparently done just that. Not a groundswell of public opinion and likely not to go any further than the public hearing (in which the citizen is also entitled to speak on behalf of said bill).
Twenty five years ago, I was a legislative aide to a Mass. state rep. The constituent wanted to outlaw lemon dishwashing liquid, “cause kids might think it’s lemon juice.” That became a bill, too, and went through the same process and was deservedly killed.
Regarding #12’s comment, yes the legislator who proposed the similar law in California was ridiculed because she was not a parent, so where did she get off telling parents who to discipline their children? She ended up withdrawing her bill before it even got to committee hearings, even though it was apparrently supported by groups opposed to child abuse (her bill would have outlawed spanking only for children under 3 years of age).
I am a parent (now a grandparent) who only had to spank one of my children once and the other just a few times.
I think the danger in spanking is that it is all too often used as revenge against the child for disobeying or embarrassing the parent or as a shortcut for parents without the time or inclination to invest enough of their time in raising their kids. This type of response is not necessarily intended to help the child develop their own self discipline and is usually administered while in an angry state. THAT teaches children to react violently in difficult situations because parents are their mentors for good or bad.
Spanking is better utilized as a way to to help children experience a sample of the pain they are in for during a life of poor decisions. They need clear boundaries which include expected consequences they are familiar with which can include the discomfort of corporal punishment. It’s important that they learn there are consequences for bad decisions before they reach an age where life or the judicial system gives them a spanking that could last a lifetime. BTW, I agree that children under 4 years cannot understand the reason they are being hit and therefore should have that experience at such a young age. Sorry for going on and on but those are my thoughts.
Oops. I left out a word in response #37. I do NOT agree with children under 4 years receiving corporal punishment. That’s it!
AH, yes, I agree. The legislature is so much better at doing everything than regular people. All children under 18 should simply be taken away from all parents and raised by the state.
Having children that you don’t turn in to the state shall be defacto proof that you were planning to raise them improperly.
In fact, let’s take that to the next logical step as well. Outlaw sex and the making of children and the state will take egg and sperm samples from everyone it deems acceptable and put them together in a laboratory. That will prevent children from have to trauma of being raised by parents who would be a terrible influence on them.