Post by Nikkol on Dec 7, 2007 10:31:18 GMT -5
By: Stella Cernak, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 12/4/07 Section: News
Parents living in Massachusetts may start thinking twice before laying a hand on an uncooperative child's bottom, as a new bill introduced to the state legislature seeks to ban the age-old disciplinary practice of spanking.
State representative Jay Kaufman, D-Lexington, introduced the "anti-spanking" bill, formally titled "The Act of Prohibiting Corporal Punishment in Children," to the legislature on Nov. 28. Kaufman proposed the bill at the request of Arlington resident Kathleen Wolf, a registered nurse who wants Massachusetts to lead the nation as the first state to stop the corporal punishment of children.
Corporal punishment is defined by the bill as "the willful infliction of physical pain or injurious or humiliating treatment," but rules out "incidental minor physical contact designed to maintain control."
In an interview with the Attleboro Times, Wolf pointed out that corporal punishment is illegal when directed toward one's spouse but not one's child. Corporal punishment of children by teachers and staff of schools is already illegal in most states.
"Corporal punishment is not an acceptable form of discipline in Massachusetts," she told the Times. She emphasized that she is not primarily concerned with spanking in particular, but that she wants the state to better define when punishment turns into abuse.
University of Massachusetts senior Tom Holubiak said that "spanking may seem petty at first, but negligence in addressing such social issues can escalate into a rather serious problem in the family."
Yet, Holubiak, like other students, point out that government intervention into family issues can also be a problem.
"Isn't that something that's done in the privacy of your home? Shouldn't the government be spending their time worrying about more important things, like health care, than if a little brat child is getting spanked?" asked junior Jon Duteau.
"I don't think anyone over five gets spanked," added Duteau. "And a five-year-old doesn't have the capacity to understand that being spanked is against the law."
Whether against the law or not, University of New Hampshire sociology professor Murray Straus points out that 90 percent of 100 studies of corporal punishment revealed that children can experience harmful side effects after being spanked.
Spanking may cause depression, weaken the bond between parents and the child and increase the likelihood of a child being abusive as adults, according to Straus. He recognizes that although spanking does not always bring about these effects, it does not mean the method is harmless. If a person is not abusive later on in life as a result of spanking, Strauss said that "it just means they were part of the lucky 75 percent who were not affected, rather than the 25 percent who were."
Strauss suggests that physical discipline does not work any better at correcting misbehavior than other non-physical means, and that the law could help educate parents of these "non-violent" means of effective discipline, as the Swedish law against corporal punishment has done for almost 30 years.
The Swedish research project that helped propel the passage of the 1979 anti-corporal punishment law, discovered that stopping all physical punishment was the "gateway" to preventing most child abuse, according to University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Adrienne Ahlgren Haeuser, a project director for the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse. Although the law does not punish parents with jail time or fines, it has proved effective in turning the behavior of many Swedish children and parents around through widespread education of non-violent parenting methods.
Haeuser claims that on a trip to Sweden in 1988, none of her encounters "snickered about the law or opposed it. Both parents and professionals agreed that Swedish parents, aside from those with very serious psychological or social problems, were not using physical punishment of any sort, even in the privacy of their homes."
However, the Swedish government provides parents with many child-rearing services that would seem foreign to most Americans. The government guarantees one parent a paid 15 month leave from their job to care for their newborn and provides local parent-child centers where parents are aided by social workers and early childhood educators, according to Haeuser.
In America, however, even Wolf recognized the Massachusetts bill has little chance of passing. Holubiak linked the lackluster outlook for the bill's passage with the fact that many people may see it as intrusive,
"I think that being an American, a characteristic is independence and that entails rearing a child however you want."
"I think it would be a good law, but I am hesitant to have any governmental involvement in family matters," said junior Travis O'Deane. "But, as a fundamental rule, you shouldn't hit the people you love."
Stella Cernak can be reached at ccernak@student.umass.edu.
Issue date: 12/4/07 Section: News
Parents living in Massachusetts may start thinking twice before laying a hand on an uncooperative child's bottom, as a new bill introduced to the state legislature seeks to ban the age-old disciplinary practice of spanking.
State representative Jay Kaufman, D-Lexington, introduced the "anti-spanking" bill, formally titled "The Act of Prohibiting Corporal Punishment in Children," to the legislature on Nov. 28. Kaufman proposed the bill at the request of Arlington resident Kathleen Wolf, a registered nurse who wants Massachusetts to lead the nation as the first state to stop the corporal punishment of children.
Corporal punishment is defined by the bill as "the willful infliction of physical pain or injurious or humiliating treatment," but rules out "incidental minor physical contact designed to maintain control."
In an interview with the Attleboro Times, Wolf pointed out that corporal punishment is illegal when directed toward one's spouse but not one's child. Corporal punishment of children by teachers and staff of schools is already illegal in most states.
"Corporal punishment is not an acceptable form of discipline in Massachusetts," she told the Times. She emphasized that she is not primarily concerned with spanking in particular, but that she wants the state to better define when punishment turns into abuse.
University of Massachusetts senior Tom Holubiak said that "spanking may seem petty at first, but negligence in addressing such social issues can escalate into a rather serious problem in the family."
Yet, Holubiak, like other students, point out that government intervention into family issues can also be a problem.
"Isn't that something that's done in the privacy of your home? Shouldn't the government be spending their time worrying about more important things, like health care, than if a little brat child is getting spanked?" asked junior Jon Duteau.
"I don't think anyone over five gets spanked," added Duteau. "And a five-year-old doesn't have the capacity to understand that being spanked is against the law."
Whether against the law or not, University of New Hampshire sociology professor Murray Straus points out that 90 percent of 100 studies of corporal punishment revealed that children can experience harmful side effects after being spanked.
Spanking may cause depression, weaken the bond between parents and the child and increase the likelihood of a child being abusive as adults, according to Straus. He recognizes that although spanking does not always bring about these effects, it does not mean the method is harmless. If a person is not abusive later on in life as a result of spanking, Strauss said that "it just means they were part of the lucky 75 percent who were not affected, rather than the 25 percent who were."
Strauss suggests that physical discipline does not work any better at correcting misbehavior than other non-physical means, and that the law could help educate parents of these "non-violent" means of effective discipline, as the Swedish law against corporal punishment has done for almost 30 years.
The Swedish research project that helped propel the passage of the 1979 anti-corporal punishment law, discovered that stopping all physical punishment was the "gateway" to preventing most child abuse, according to University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Adrienne Ahlgren Haeuser, a project director for the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse. Although the law does not punish parents with jail time or fines, it has proved effective in turning the behavior of many Swedish children and parents around through widespread education of non-violent parenting methods.
Haeuser claims that on a trip to Sweden in 1988, none of her encounters "snickered about the law or opposed it. Both parents and professionals agreed that Swedish parents, aside from those with very serious psychological or social problems, were not using physical punishment of any sort, even in the privacy of their homes."
However, the Swedish government provides parents with many child-rearing services that would seem foreign to most Americans. The government guarantees one parent a paid 15 month leave from their job to care for their newborn and provides local parent-child centers where parents are aided by social workers and early childhood educators, according to Haeuser.
In America, however, even Wolf recognized the Massachusetts bill has little chance of passing. Holubiak linked the lackluster outlook for the bill's passage with the fact that many people may see it as intrusive,
"I think that being an American, a characteristic is independence and that entails rearing a child however you want."
"I think it would be a good law, but I am hesitant to have any governmental involvement in family matters," said junior Travis O'Deane. "But, as a fundamental rule, you shouldn't hit the people you love."
Stella Cernak can be reached at ccernak@student.umass.edu.
