Assembly woman Sally Leiber wants to protect toddlers and babies and plans to introduce a bill to prevent spankings. On latimes.com the Bay Area Democrat explains her reasoning in an article titled "A spanking ban: are we gonna get it?" She has received a barrage of emails, some of them telling her to mind her own business.
Unbowed, Leiber said she would introduce a bill next week to make California the first state to make the hitting of a toddler or baby a crime. Language was still being drafted, but Lieber was considering making a violation a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in county jail.
"It would get us out of the ridiculous situation of having our law saying there's justifiable beating of children," Lieber said, "in the midst of a society where we say we value children and protect them."
Leiber realizes that there will be lots of opposition to her bill. Some parents do not want to be told how to discipline their children. However, she does expect support from the governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In a Mercury News interview Thursday, Schwarzenegger described how as a child he "got smacked about everything" by his father, but has never spanked his own four children. He questioned how such a law could be enforced, but said he understood the desire to "get rid of the physical, the brutal behavior that some parents have."
California is one of 29 states that ban corporal punishment in schools. Most states - including California - ban physical discipline in child-care settings.
Emails posted on the Mercury News website criticized Leiber for getting involved in an area she doesn't understand because she has never had children of her own. One reader wrote:
"The day that the (government) gives birth to my children, then they have a right to raise them," wrote Esther. "Till then they are mine to do with as I please. I will raise them the way I see fit. If I think that those little butts need a swat . . . I will be the one to give it to them."
Leiber's proposal will create a lot of controversy. Any sensible person knows that it is not okay to spank or hit a baby. It is never acceptable to beat anyone. Some people, however, feel that a swat on a toddler's behind will make the child think before repeating a dangerous action or an unacceptable behavior. Others feel that a time out period is a better way to discipline a child. Educators and parents don't always agree on how to deal with inappropriate behaviors.
I think that the most important thing to remember is for the adult in charge to remain calm, fair, and reasonable.
I remember a mother coming to our middle school with a paddle and demanding to spank her child in the cafeteria in front of everyone. She had received a call from a teacher because her son had not turned in numerous assignments. Luckily, the principal intercepted her and denied her request.
When I was in third grade, one of my classmates was not as lucky. She came running into our auditorium class after instruction had already started. Her mother was chasing her with a belt. She ran around the large room with her mother yelling at her and hitting her every chance she got. As a child, I was horrified. My parents did believe in spankings, but I had never witnessed anything like that. Obviously, from what the mother was yelling, her daughter did not want to go to school that day. She paid a pretty big price for her decision. Looking back, I wonder why the teacher didn't try to stop the mother. Everyone just watched until my classmate finally sat in her seat, and her mother left. Class continued as normal. We all pretended it had not happened.
Ms. Leiber is obviously not looking the other way.