Massachusetts bill could make spanking illegal

MASSACHUSETTS — What if spanking your kids made you a criminal? Some people think that’s a good idea. In Massachusetts, they’ve proposed a law saying corporal punishment of children is child abuse.

Many parents consider it their fundamental right to spank.

“We don’t spank her, but I think that ought to be a parent’s choice.”

But the notion of “spare the rod, spoil the child” could be given a “time out” in the state of Massachusetts — permanently.

Kathleen wolf wrote anti-spanking bill. She said, “I think it’s ironic that domestic violence applies to everyone except the most vulnerable — children.”

Wednesday a legislative committee heard arguments about a proposed bill that threatens to hit parents where it hurts — by taking away their right to spank their child –a practice that the majority of researchers say results in less well-behaved kids.

Sociologist Dr. Murray Strauss said, “Eighty-four percent of Americans feel that it’s sometimes necessary to give a child a good hard spanking. So it’s part of our cultural norms. But it’s wrong.”

Wolf, a Massachusetts nurse, submitted the idea to her state. She said, “I don’t think the idea is to punish people. I think the idea is to give them the support that they need.”

Wolf sees House Bill 3299 as a chance to raise awareness about a rise in child abuse cases. This year in Massachusetts 5,000 people were charged with crossing the line between discipline and child abuse.

One parent said, “I don’t want the government telling me how to raise my children.”

Nineteen countries have already banned corporal punishment. If successful, Massachusetts would become the first state in the country to do so.