US News
California no-spanking bill struck down
Feb 23, 2007, 21:03 GMT
Los Angeles - A California lawmaker has withdrawn the no- spanking bill she proposed in the state legislature after failing to muster enough votes to pass the controversial measure, the San Jose Mercury News reported Friday.
Assemblywoman Sally Lieber had hoped to pass a law that would have criminalized spanking young children, but bowed to opposition from fellow lawmakers who worried it made the state legislature look like it was meddling with families and child rearing.
'The votes simply were not there,' Lieber said.
But unwilling to admit defeat, Lieber has instead introduced a watered-down bill that would prohibit other types of physical punishment, even as a swat on the behind would reman legal so long as it doesn't cause serious injury.
Among the proposed new bans will be using an instrument such as a belt or stick on a child, or vigorously shaking a youngster under age three.
The measure would also specifically ban parents from throwing, kicking, burning or cutting a child, striking a child with a closed fist, interfering with a child's breathing or threatening a child with a deadly weapon.
Randy Thomasson of the conservative Campaign for Children and Families said in a news release that Lieber's new bill still goes too far.
'It openly criminalizes good parents, mostly mothers who use a little stick or switch or paddle to correct the rebellious defiance of their children,' he said in a news release.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
blog comments powered by DisqusLatest Headlines in US
- 1. Mitt Romney Addresses Tea Party Summit Pictures
- 2. Seven injured as US Navy plane crashes into apartments
- 3. At least three injured in US Navy plane crash
- 4. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, others to face death penalty trial
- 5. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, four others to face death penalty trial
Older Talkback
page: 1
Spanking seems to me to be the most effective discipline and least damaging to a child in the long run. I'd rather deal with the issue quickly via spanking, comfort the child and reiterate the rule broken, and move on with the day and get back to playing and enjoying life. This can usually be accomplished in less than 5 minutes or so. Putting a kid on timeout for 10-20 minutes is bad. They'll either sit there for 20 minutes thinking about how bad they were, further damaging their little self-image or they'll try to get up and walk around, start playing etc which will require more intervention and 'time'. Spanking works better.
Government needs to stay out of the child rearing business and only intervene in the serious child abuse business.
This woman has lost her mind. How can she even presume to be the 'parent' to millions of families. Children should be protected and we have measures/laws in place to give the right attention to punishments that have gone too far. This is a given and nobody would argue against such protections.
We have four children and each of them have been spanked at least once in their lives. Each of our children are well developed, sensitive and self confident. How dare she decide for the rest of us how we raise and mold our children! This is akin to Big Brother meddling in our daily lives. Give me government but don't give me 'Mama Knows Best'.
I thought punching and threatening with a deadly weapon and all that were already illegal? Good grief. I never spanked with my hand..it's the wooden spoon around here, just as it was when I was a kid. My hands are for comforting and wiping away tears. That law would absolutely interfere with how I have decided to raise my own young.
Are you all idiots? How can you say any degree of hitting is okay? You're obviously ignorant people who have no idea what psychological damage even spanking can cause. There are much better forms of punishment than spanking or 'timeouts'. Dicipline via corporal punishment (which is what spanking is)is lazy, mean and should be criminal.
And just so you know, I'm not some tree-hugging, bedwetting libral. I'm a regular, educated guy with a wife and kid. Somehow my wife and I know better than you fools.
I feel sorry for your children.
Sally Lieber reported to another news source that she didn't have any children, just a cat named Snoop that her VET told her she should not hit.
Is this how California Democrats spend their time? Waisting time and money on issues they have no experience with?
Most of the adult spanking fetishists I know were spanked as kids. They have bottom abuse and love kind of confused in their minds. I'm not sure that so much fascination with the buttocks is healthy for a civilization.
Pysically harming your children can never be justified. Unfortunately most of you were probably treated that way when you were young so that makes it 'right' in your mind. I grew up this way and have chosen to break the chain of abuse.
The only thing you are teaching your children is that if you don't like someone elses behavior, you should hit them. When your kids grow up and start beating your grandchildren too you have yourselves to thank.
As the previous poster stated, spanking is just a quick fix for lazy parents. The next time one of your kids gets in a fight you should reward them. They are after all just doing what they you taught them.
anyone who can't behaviorally condition their innocent children w/o resorting to violent acts is a barbaric simpleton who has no business interacting with children whatsoever. physical violence towards children is nothing more than grown adults getting mad at whatever their kids are doing, then taking it out on them even though they probably 'learned it by watching you'. the fact is that these abusive adults have the maturity level of their children and their thoughts consist of, 'you hurt me, so i'm going to hurt you.' children are your responsibility, not your property. your 'rights' to raise them how you want do not trump their rights to not be abused and neglected. and you wonder why this world is a cesspool of violence.
nate carr
world saver
Oh come on! I got spanked and darned glad I did. Friends of mine who were never spanked ended up in prison cause they never learned any dicipline.
Even the Bible says to spank....read it.
ill bet that congresswoman likes a spanking now and then
spanking is fine. it is not meant to harm the child, but to teach and correct.
what is important, however, is to absolutely correct the criminal abuse and murder that does happen at the hands of women in the US home. the statistics are very clear - women are the leading abusers and murderers of children in US homes.
Its not Dads. Its not boy friends, it MOMS.
Mind your own darn business! How I choose to raise my children, spanking or not spanking, is my choice not the governments. There is not a nitwit in the world that loves or cares for my children as much as my wife and I and we don't need you hairbrains poking your noses into our family's business. You and your experiments in the best way to raise kids are not welcome to intrude into our lives. If you don't like spanking, don't do it, nobody is forcing your hand.
Nine times out of ten when you run run into a bratty, smart mouthed kid with no respect for other people you can bet their parent's don't spank. I can just hear you reading this 'Not my kid!'...bull, your friends just don't have the heart to tell you.
Lets pass bills to ban worst child abuse like abortion first.
I've found over the years that a child that has never been shown that actions have consequences (good and bad) tends to do whatever pleases them at the moment with out caring if they are harming someone else. A time out doesn't have the impact that a swat or two on the behind does. Discipline and praise should be immediate and consistent. Government has no place legislating how I raise my children. Especially bleeding heart liberals that think DR. Spock is GOD.
The government should have nothing to say about how we discipline our children, or about a myriad of other choices we as free Americans should be allowed to make. Before you know it, we will be a nation of controlled robots, not allowed to make our own choices.
Obviously, it should be against the law to abuse children, and it is. In a perfect world all children could be disciplined by just saying to them,'Mommie (or daddy) wishes you wouldn't do that; you're making me very unhappy.' Most kids would think, 'so what?'
All children do not react the same to the various forms of discipline. Some wilt at a cross word or look, while others need a swat on the rear to get their attention.
Just because you were hit, and conditioned to accept it, doesn't mean it's okay to do. And as far as the person who commented that those who didn't get hit when they were a kid ended up in prison...your generalization is foolish. I never got abused as a kid (yes, spanking is a form of abuse) and I'm not an inmate. Doesn't it make more sense that those who were hit as a kid think it's okay to hit when they get older? Those are the people who are more apt to be violent. In fact, when you say: 'I was spanked when I was a kid and there's nothing wrong when I do it to my kid' proves my point exactly. You've become conditioned at a young age that hitting and violence is okay to solve a problem.
And to the moron who says it's the kids that aren't hit that act up the most (but friends won't tell them), I can say that I know kids that are hit, and they are terrors. Hmm...hitting sure doesn't seem to be fixing their problems. Maybe they should hit harder if it's not working. Maybe some pepper spray or putting out some cigaretts on them may fix that bad kid's attitude. Can't you see...it's all degrees of abuse. Spanking is just a mild form.
And I don't really care that it's YOUR kid and it's none of my business. Is it okay to hit your spouse? NO. Is it okay to abuse your pet? NO. Does society deal with spouse beaters and animal abusers? YES...there are laws forbidding it. Kids aren't property, and you can't do with them what you wish. Kids are defenseless, and someone has to protect them...even if their hitting parents won't.
Common sense is in danger of going extinct in the California legislature.
I witnessed first hand the 'ABOREALE TRIBE' , who used the argument that if they fondled the PENIS and breast region of the male child or the VAGINA and breats of the female child it was the same as how 'american parents' SPANK their children... in their defense moreover they argued that the SEXUAL PERVERSION is what in fact kept the kids 'subdued'. So, they said basically if spanking kids on the rear-end UNCONSENTUALLY is 'ok', well then so should FONDLES of the other PRIVATE PARTS be OK.
WHERE IS THE LINE DRAWN?
Why would it be Ok to do things to the kid on the one private part but not the other private parts?
Actually, a wooden spoon or implement can be a better way to administer a spanking than by a parents hand because there is better control. You can inflict a little sting of pain to help the child know that what he or she is doing is dangerous, but then the child knows the implement is separate from the parent. Spanking -- immediately after the offense and consistently teaches a child about consequences to actions that are either dangerous or morally wrong. If you train a child to come when you say 'come', to come immediately, then you may one day save the childs life if he or she wanders onto a busy street. If you spank a child when they open cabinets that have poisonous chemicals, after telling the child 'No.', the child does not have to learn from experience how dangerous the chemicals are. And you certainly could remove chemicals out of a childs reach, but what happens when you are visiting someone else, etc.? Better that the child is trained to heed a parent's word and govern their own actions. If the child was never trained not to touch; the child was never trained to obey, then they can cause themselves harm. But parents who use spanking to train can be confident they will not do something dangerous even when the parent is not in the immediate room.
Spank to train, not to express anger.
Besides those zealots who think that causing pain of any kind is bad, I think a lot of the people who oppose spanking are actually opposed to spanking out of anger. This is something to educate parents, not to legislate. One thing is certain, most parents love their kids much better than anyone else in the world, and so they should be the ones to decide how to train their children.
'This world is a cesspool of violence' because people don't spank their kids like they use to. Schools used to be alot better too, when paddling (and prayer) was still allowed. My parents spanked all 5 of us kids. Sometimes we even had bloody welts on our legs from the switches, but we never got in trouble with the law, and grew up knowing about consequences. As kids we all muttered 'I hate you' at times because we thought they were too hard on us, but as adults, we know they only did what they thought was best. We are all very close and love our parents more than ever. We are in our 50's now and each of us have been married for 25 to 30 years. (To the same people) I can't imagine how we might have turned out without the 'abuse'.
page: 1
bethFeb 23rd, 2007 - 22:39:00
this is what kids need little ass spanking never hurt anyone.
that is why kids are this way you look cross eyed at them and it's all your fault and in teps the s.s. people to furture wreck your life.these social service people are real filth
Report this comment