STORM2K

Now THIS is getting OUTTA hand here.....I WILL NOT have the gov't tell ME that I can't SPANK my CHILD WTH is this WORLD coming to?

Granted, my kids are grown and gone and I don't live in California but nontheless...this is B.S.!

http://www.azcentral.com

(CBS 5 / KCBS) SAN FRANCISCO Do parents have the right to spank their children? It is a controversial issue, and while a Bay Area lawmaker wants it addressed in Sacramento -- a majority of those surveyed for a new CBS 5 poll expressed opposition to a spanking ban.

In California, it's currently against the law for anyone but parents to spank a child. A proposed new law would make it illegal for them, too, if the child is 3 years old or younger.

Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-Mountain View) wants the practice of swatting a child on the behind outlawed and is in the process of drafting a bill to do so.

A poll of 500 Bay Area adults conducted for CBS 5 by Survey USA on Thursday found 57% would oppose such a bill, while only 23% would support it. The poll, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4%, showed 11% undecided.

Parents at the playgroup at Parent's Place in San Francisco, non-profit Jewish family child and parents service group, said they don't believe in spanking young children, but they said outlawing it worries them.

Joanna Jhanda as a one year old girl, said she understands the need for a law, but it troubles her: "There are certainly cases of extreme abuse,and those need to be addressed. I don't know if this law would help those children."

Victoria Wylie has a four month old and she's worried about where the law draws the line. She said, "If someone sees me doing something.. what they would consider spanking.. and it's not, I'm a little uncomfortable I'd be under investigation."

The proposed law would make spanking a child under 3 misdemeanor child abuse, an extenstion of current corporal punishment laws.

Violators could spend a year in jail, and pay up to $1000 in fines. Enforcement is unclear.

San Francisco assistant district attorney Paul Henderson prosecutes child abuse cases, and he welcomes a no spanking law.

"If you're going to spank your child, you need to know the limit," said Henderson, "and you need to know that doing it in a way that's cruel or traumatic causes injury, and that you could be prosecuted."

At the parenting classes at Parent's Place, spanking is considered the wrong discipline. Lee Ann Slaton leads discipline classes there. She said, "It teaches a child, if you're bigger you can hit. Violence begets violence.. and they're not learning."

An anti-spanking law in California would be the country's first. Supporters claim the U.S. is far behind some other nations in this issue. According to Lieber, fifteen countries worldwide have outlawed spanking of children, and under international law, it's considered a human rights abuse.

Critics maintain a spanking ban is an intrusion on the family, while supporters call it protecting a defenseless child.

Maybe Ms. Leiber should have been swatted as a child

CajunMama wrote:Maybe Ms. Leiber should have been swatted as a child

Yup....with a leather razor strap, MAN those HURT!

Good, IMO spanking a child is a form of violence and should be punished.

I find it strange that people think it's an intrusion on the family. Isn't the fact that you can't beat up your wife or the fact that it's illegal to have sex with your children also an intrusion on the family and do they oppose these rules too?

I take it you were never spank as a child Yarrah. Spanking a child who does wrong is not child abuse. My wife didn't believe in spanking and her children walked all over her. Their father did spank and with him it was always yes sir. Now a child under one should not be spanked at all. Thats where the line should be drawn.

Yarrah wrote:Good, IMO spanking a child is a form of violence and should be punished.

I find it strange that people think it's an intrusion on the family. Isn't the fact that you can't beat up your wife or the fact that it's illegal to have sex with your children also an intrusion on the family and do they oppose these rules too?

Beating and spanking are 2 way different things. Spanking is used in a controlled manor as discipline, beating is just going nuts on someone because you had a bad day, or just because you can. Two totally different things IMO.

Yarrah wrote:Good, IMO spanking a child is a form of violence and should be punished.

I find it strange that people think it's an intrusion on the family. Isn't the fact that you can't beat up your wife or the fact that it's illegal to have sex with your children also an intrusion on the family and do they oppose these rules too?

Oh my. Beating up your wife and having sex with your children are not even comparable to a spanking on the behind for disciplinary reasons. The few sickos who abuse their children by actually beating them should rot in prison, IMO. I can't stand to see a child abused. Spanking your kids when they need to be punished is in no way abuse.

Hey Azsnowman - I'm totally with you on this one. Nothing like a pop on the Pampers to get a misbehaving child's attention when all else fails. And one quick note - spanking a kid is preferable to spanking the brass.... er... NEVERMIND!!!

Tstormwatcher wrote:I take it you were never spank as a child Yarrah. Spanking a child who does wrong is not child abuse. My wife didn't believe in spanking and her children walked all over her. Their father did spank and with him it was always yes sir. Now a child under one should not be spanked at all. Thats where the line should be drawn.

Indeed, I've never been spanked. I was either a good boy (could be ) or my parents just didn't want to break the law (it's illegal over here)

But maybe there's a bit of a cultural difference on this topic. I've never been spanked and I don't know anyone who has been spanked as a child. I've always learned that spanking is a form of child abuse, falling under the same category as other kinds of violence within a family, and that it's counterproductive. Even my mother, who studied pedagogy, told me that spanking is never a good way to teach a child what to do and what not. It seems the public opinion here differs from the one in the US.

This is a very sensitive subject and obviously people have different views of it.I'm not against spanking but at the same time I don't think it's impossible to raise a good kid without spanking him/her.Therefore I don't like it when parents who spank their kids bash parents who don't and vice versa.Different parents just have different disciplinary actions towards their kids.

Wow, there'd be a lot of overcrowded prisons if we locked up every parent who abused a child. And a lot of children without parents.

GalvestonDuck wrote:Wow, there'd be a lot of overcrowded prisons if we locked up every parent who abused a child. And a lot of children without parents.

Duckie gets the gold star!!

Yep, the more government intrudes on our personal lives, the more people are turned into criminals. That simple.

I remember a story that my AP physics teacher told me in 2001

When he was going to HS in the 60's, one day he was throwing snowballs with his friends when the bus came. One missed and went through the bus window and hit the driver. The school station wagon came and took him to the Principal. He was given the choice, of taking a paddling. He took the paddling, which meant no detention, no mark on his permanent record, and no parental notification. He got his 6 or 7 swats, left him with a couple of black and blue marks. Lesson learned. Not abuse in any way shape or form according to him

Corporal punishment is an effective way to teach a lesson. It is quick and over with quickly. Plus, knowing your about to be spanked and having to wait a few minutes for the spanking, that is more of a punishment than the actual spanking.

My question to everyone is, which is better, a black and blue mark that will go away in a day, or the school shootings that we have today?

Good ole' California.... that state should be a country all by its self.

Spanking a child under 3? Yikes, I've got five kids and five grandkids and none of them were spanked before they were 3. What on earth can a two year old do to deserve a spanking?

One incident does not reflect the state as a whole; I know many people in this country believe that we are just a bunch of spoiled brats in million dollar homes, but that's reall not the case.

Lindaloo wrote:Good ole' California.... that state should be a country all by its self.

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I definitely do not agree with this, as with many, I think spanking is perfectly fine and that society would be better as a whole. Sometimes it does go too far, but the benefits of disciplinary action far outweighs the risks, as long as it is done when it is appropriate. IMO, the idea that spanking should be outlawed is absurd.



EDIT: OK, outlawing spanking for 3 yr olds and younger - that is understandable. (Got to read the article before responding )

Hmm...a few weeks ago my sister was being a brat and severely talking back to my parents, throwing things, etc...(guess she picked the habit up at school...I talk back a tad...but never throw things or hit, etc) well after a few good swats on the butt...she is now a good child again...(not from me) spanking works...I was spanked when I was younger and I dont do drugs, nor do I shoot things or people up (excluding the occasional airsoft war...) but hey...some people are taught one way, others another...I admit I'm not perfect, nor am I a straight "A" student...but I am a good kid (or so my parents say as they watch some unruly child go by...)

Let's see...

Spank any child but yours could lead to jail time though, but I believe some lawmakers are pusing it to the limits.

Good ole' California.... that state should be a country all by its self. Rolling Eyes

I totally agree with this. Let's all gather around and sing Kum My ya and hold hands around the campfire.

Little by little, state by state, law by law, the government will eventually control what we eat, drink, smoke, have sex with, what we drive, where we work, what we wear, how many hours we sleep, how many times a week we crap, etc.