I know the title of this blog may seem a bit incendiary, but after what I witnessed in the Assembly Public Safety Committee yesterday, I believe it is merited. Yesterday morning the committee passed, on a party-line vote, AB 2943, Assemblywoman Sally Lieber’s ban on spanking. AB 2943 will make it a misdemeanor for a parent to spank their child with a stick or switch. But many parents use a wooden spoon or stick to spank because they believe that the hand is an instrument of love, not punishment.
During the hearing we heard the usual arguments that parents who use corporal punishment are abusers. But the most shocking part of the hearing came when the California Teachers Association testified in favor of the bill as one of Lieber’s two main witnesses. This goes far beyond simply sending in a letter of support. To actually attend a hearing and testify in favor of the bill proves how far the CTA is willing to go in controlling the lives of not only their students, but parents as well.
The CTA lobbyist’s testimony mirrored their letter of support: “The use of physical punishment teaches children that violent/physical force is an acceptable method to resolve differences. We need to stop the cycle of violence…”
Resolve differences?! When it comes to the parent/child relationship, there may be differences, but they will always be “resolved” in favor of the parent’s wisdom and experience. Physical punishment (spanking) can actually prevent real physical harm. When a disobedient child repeatedly reaches for a hot stove, many times the only way to train the child is to spank. But that spanking, while momentarily painful, will teach the child to obey and thereby avoid serious, lasting injury.
As for the “cycle of violence,” we are constantly told in committee hearings that violence, bullying and harassment are commonplace in schools and only “diversity” training or other indoctrination classes will solve the problem. But is it any wonder that we have seen a sharp increase in violence in schools since corporal punishment was banned in California schools in 1986? Maybe if more parents were encouraged to use responsible discipline like spanking at home, their children would behave at school as well.
When it comes right down to it, the spanking ban bill reveals the condescending attitude that elitist lawmakers and their cohorts hold toward the average American (their constituents). Barack Obama’s recent patronizing comments about Middle America and our quaint beliefs is another example that many of our elected officials ridicule our values.
AB 2943’s official legislative analysis includes a “historical backdrop” about corporal punishment. One of the explanations for the use of spanking is that the “Bible sanctions corporal punishment…” and Proverbs tells parents to “beat him [a child] with the rod.” The analysis even says that “Martin Luther believed that parents could use extreme measures, even death, when children were disobedient. Based on these religious authorities, many people believed that beating a child was acceptable.”
This analysis shows a shocking lack of understanding regarding responsible discipline. Do lawmakers actually believe that Christians advocate beating their children, even to death? I have never met a Christian, or parent who abides by traditional values, who believes beating a child is the same as corrective discipline. Obama, the CTA and their associates believe that they are the enlightened ones who no longer use such barbaric practices as hitting their children. But this “enlightenment” defies a basic understanding of human nature and historic lessons on child rearing.
By actively advocating for AB 2943, the CTA is advancing its arrogant belief that it knows better than parents how to raise children. This time, it wants to make responsible parents criminals for simply trying to raise healthy, obedient children.