January 22, 2007
Warming The Bottom
Spanking your children, some parents call it discipline, others say it's child abuse but in California the punishment may soon become a crime.
Similar to laws in Illinois California parents can spank their kids unless the degree of force is excessive but some California lawmakers want to outlaw spanking kids under four all together.
If the bill is passed parents found spanking their children would face up to a year in prison or a 1,000 dollar fine. The law has a string of critics who say it would be an invasion of privacy and difficult to enforce. There is plenty of time to work out the kinks, a decision is not expected until Spring.
As most of you know, Kelli and I do not have children, nor does it look as if we ever will. My only experience with spanking comes from my parents, who did spank but only sparingly as far as I remember. What do you parents think? Do you spank? If so, why? If not, why not?
Finally, is this really an issue in which government at any level should be involved?
Posted by Matthew at January 22, 2007 10:13 PMTrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.opaquelucidity.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/990
I think a quick swat on the bottom to get the attention of a child who is acting up is fine and I use the method myself. I don't condone spanking a kid just to inflict pain and suffering. My dad favored spanking with a belt and I swore I would never do that to my kids. I've been blessed with a pretty good kid who doesn't give me much trouble. When he does have to be punished I have found that taking the X Box away from him seems to get the message across better than spanking him. I've seen some parents really lose it on their kids and it's not a pretty sight.
Posted by: David![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.opaquelucidity.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 22, 2007 10:57 PM
If only my parents had spanked sparingly... :-(
We rarely ever swat one of the kids. Usually, it's when we're fried and frazzled and not at our best, and we usually end up regretting it afterwards. Definitely not one of the preferred parenting tools for when we're on top of our mom/dad game.
Posted by: Christy at January 23, 2007 09:01 AM