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Spanking Illegal In Massachusetts?

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themadcowtipper

Smells faintly of rancid stilton.
Proposed Bill Would Outlaw Corporal Punishment For Children
BOSTON -- Should parents be allowed to spank their children? Massachusetts lawmakers will be debating that question following the filing of a bill that would ban corporal punishment in the commonwealth.



NewsCenter 5's Kelly Tuthill reported that state Rep. James Marzilli, Jr., of Arlington, Mass., is one of the sponsors of the bill, which prohibits everything from spanking to "hot saucing," which involves putting undiluted Tabasco sauce in a child's mouth.

In April, a Plymouth, Mass., father landed on the front page of local papers and behind bars after he used a belt to spank his son Josh, 12.

"He forgot his book. I went upstairs, I got my belt. I came downstairs. I gave him three swats on the rear end, with his pants on, like any concerned parent would do, and scared him, of course, you know. Hopefully I got the point across," Charles Enloe said.

But now, lawmakers are considering making "the willfull infliction of physical pain on children under 18," illegal. The measure would prohibit corporal punishment including whipping, spanking and pinching. Also forbidden would be washing a child's mouth out with soap and administering electric shocks.

The bill comes two weeks after Brookline, Mass., Town Meeting passed a non-binding resolution encouraging parents not to spank. The Supreme Judicial Court addressed the issue after a Woburn, Mass., minister used a belt to spank his 9-year-old son. In 1999, he was cleared when the SJC ruled that parents have a right to spank their children if it does not cause substantial risk of injury.

The bill appears to be unprecedented. Supporters said it's all about preventing abuse, not prosecuting parents.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/4582708/detail.html?subid=22100410&qs=1;bp=t
Discuss: Making Spanking Illegal?
I agree with the hot sauce thing, but spanking, You Have to be freakin joking....
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
I can't wait for the first trial challenging this one. There is no way that law will stand up against a legal challenge.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
I was an interesting test case for spanking. My dad never hit me once for any reason, and my mom sometimes didn't need a reason. I obeyed my dad much more readily.
 

Willco

Hollywood Square
Everyone has great anecdotes about spanking. Whatever.

beatkid4.jpg
 
Man, I used to get worked by the belt growing up. :lol Worse instances would be when the leather "missed" and instead I got the full sting of the metal brushing up against my white ass.
 

Willco

Hollywood Square
Incognito said:
Man, I used to get worked by the belt growing up. :lol Worse instances would be when the leather "missed" and instead I got the full sting of the metal brushing up against my white ass.

You should've divorced your parents, gone on the Dr. Phil show and lived the rest of your life as an independent minor under state supervision! That would've shown 'em!
 

ChrisReid

Member
Eh, if you go around the mall and watch obese bitchy moms SMACK their toddlers for looking the wrong way, after a while you'd outlaw spanking too.
 

Koshiba

Member
Having spanking being illegal is a bit ridiculous. If they do something like that, how are the parents supposed to punish the kids? I got spanked when I was a kid. Sure, I didn't like it and it hurt but I wouldn't call it abuse or anything. If spanking became illegal, all the kids around there will probably start misbehaving more. :O
 

Phoenix

Member
Koshiba said:
Having spanking being illegal is a bit ridiculous. If they do something like that, how are the parents supposed to punish the kids? I got spanked when I was a kid. Sure, I didn't like it and it hurt but I wouldn't call it abuse or anything. If spanking became illegal, all the kids around there will probably start misbehaving more. :O


You wouldn't be able to discipline them basically. Many children simply wouldn't listen to their parents at all and have no respect for authority whatsoever because for years, no one would have been able to discipline them.
 
You don't have to spank your kids to show authority. Parents lose authority by saying, "You're grounded for 5 days." which later turns to 5 minutes after the kid screams and whines about it.
 

Willco

Hollywood Square
All this time out corner new wave parenting bullshit is just that -- bullshit. Spank your goddamn kids and maybe they wouldn't be such brats in public.
 

Phoenix

Member
The Experiment said:
You don't have to spank your kids to show authority. Parents lose authority by saying, "You're grounded for 5 days." which later turns to 5 minutes after the kid screams and whines about it.

Varies from child to child. Some children can sit in timeout (you generally will be unsuccessful grounding 'kids') indefinitely.
 

olimario

Banned
If a kid is too young to understand, spanking works.
If you tell them not to do something and they persist, you spank to kill that bad behavior.
 

Gattsu25

Banned
I think the problem is that when physical punishment is dealt (i.e. slaps) that too many damn parents don't know the street-sized line between punishment and abuse. Kid talks back to you and you slap him (never to the face IMO but that's another issue) = punishment. Kid talks back to you (after a stressful day at work and 3 beers) and you punch the shit out of him and then beat him with the buckle of your belt = abuse.

On the other hand, I think that parents that sit down with their kids, explain right from wrong, talk often with their kids, and are involved in their childrens lives will be a better parent (than either a pussy "time out mister", a moderation-minded punishment parent, and a waste of a human [abusive parent]) that another that doesn't. This is all without considering other things such as drug use, not setting a good example in other ways, and even things which can be seen as minor like always telling your kids they 'ain't gonna amount to nothing' which I feel hurt more than help.
 

SlickWilly223

Time ta STEP IT UP
That's bush! Bush league.


You have to spank kids, otherwise there's no real reason for them to comply with your rules. When I was a kid I wasn't worried about being put in time out (I always found a way to amuse myself or at the least, escape). I was afraid of getting a fresh one across the face, especially in public.
 
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