Comments on: Parents strongly resist anti-spanking laws

By: sbj1964

sbj1964 — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:34:41 +0000

100% agree RC ! great comment

By: Richard_Collins

Richard_Collins — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:33:32 +0000

The law would be difficult to enforce if looked at through your lens. However, laws effect culture and it is culture which has to change. I won't try to tackle the issue of why conservatives homeschool, but that is a concern. When ever parents have sequestered their children history teaches us that it has always turned out badly for the children. Conservatives rebel against secular authority because it is a competing power center and has always represented a threat to their religion. I challenge your assertion that no model exists. One only has to look to the example of the socialist democracies in Europe or even Japan. The ban gets enforced through social mechanisms, new generations learning that gentle parenting is a better model, and pressure through state education programs.

By: RayneVanDunem

RayneVanDunem — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:46:41 +0000

While it is interesting to think about how a United States without legally-sanctioned corporal punishment would look like, I do find trouble with your comparisons between a total ban on corporal punishment and other government restrictions upon parental activity (i.e., driving without a child safety seat if a child is inside, not latching the child to a seat belt on a plane). Legally, the other government restrictions are enforceable because parents are making use of avenues of transportation or residence which are governed by the government at various levels: patrolpeople can enforce the law on the road, airline personnel and guards can enforce the law on a plane or in an airport.

The same cannot be said, legally, for what parents do in their home on a frequent and persistent basis. Anything short of murder or sexual assault/battery is considered a matter with an expectation of privacy, including physical assault/battery by parents. The enforcement of any law regulating corporal punishment in the home, where parents who were raised in their earlier years under a corporally-punishing regime are very likely to frequently corporally punish their own progeny as a reversion to the "I turned out fine" justification, would need to be increasingly patrolled by police or social workers who can penalize the parents or household for such a reversion.

This scenario is probably most feared and depicted as an apocalyptic or 1984-police-state-like scenario by libertarians and social/religious conservatives ("The government in your home", "the government raising your children", "the government against the family", "the government killing privacy in the home", etc.), and could be one of the reasons for why so many religiously-conservative religious groups set up their own private schools or homeschools and maintain an extreme antipathy against public school systems.

I don't think any model for fighting corporal punishment in the home within pre-existing legal constraints exists, nor does any model for enforcing a ban on such punishment that can respect the lengths of a parent's sanity regarding the proclivities of their progeny without allowing the parent to physically assault the minor(s).

By: HiD

HiD — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:04:22 +0000

Spanking does cause physical harm in that it causes neurological harm, connecting pain to sexuality in the neurological wiring which is still developing. As the child gets older and has more sexual feelings, the neurological connections created by spanking often lead to the child confusing pain and domination and sexuality. This is true regardless of the intentions or experiences of the person doing the spanking. More attention should be put on how it is on the receiving end. If the parent does not have sexual feelings, that does not mean the child is not affected sexually. Not all children who are spanked are harmed in their sexual development, but a large number of them are, and if you spank your child you are putting them at risk for a problem that is not just psychological, it is neurological and developmental. So yes, it does physical harm. Take some classes, go to some support groups, get some parenting skills. There is plenty else to do besides spank, so is no excuse for it. It is laziness- it is a result not bothering to learn the other options which at this point are readily available to the parent who seeks them out.

By: Richard_Collins

Richard_Collins — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:52:58 +0000

Statistical studies reveal a pattern. A significant number of parents who give themselves permission to use corporal punishment, thinking they will never cross the line into abuse, eventually escalate the force and frequency of the corporal punishment until a child winds up in the hands of the authorities. Thus rationale for a total ban against striking children (or verbally abusing them as well). Have you read any of the reports on these web sites: Plain Talk About Spanking http://www.nospank.net/pt2009.htm Global Progress Report Towards Ending All Corporal Punishment http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/pdfs/r... People who have not been alert to developments may not realize that there is an international movement to end all corporal punishment of children around the world. This movement has attracted considerable support and is making big strides. You will be amazed.

By: russel

russel — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:36:23 +0000

My stance on the matter aside, I thoroughly enjoy your misuse of logic here. Persuasion 101 – you're using false comparisons. You cannot compare things that protect a child from physical harm to spanking (which I assume the argument is that it is causing emotional harm, because spanking that causes physical harm IS illegal). I am actually against spanking, but would like the government OUT OF MY HOUSE HOLD.

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