The Anti-Spanking Bill (AB 755) - An Update; Amended But Still Bad Public Policy
On April 24, 2007 AB 755 received its first policy committee hearing. It passed on a party line vote but with an important amendment. The "rebuttable presumption" language that a parent was presumed to been unjustified in giving his / her child a spanking with a switch or other similar object was removed.
While this amendment is good, the bill is still based on flawed public policy. The state government has no business telling parents that a time honored method of disciplining children will now be illegal. Millions of parents in California use spanking as a method to reinforce to their child proper behavior and to protect them from harm (example: A child may not understand intellectually not to run out into the street due to the dangers of being run over by an automobile. However, that same two year old will likely associate running out into the street with a prior instance of pain from a spanking curbing the temptation to "go exploring" in the street). Not all parents or child rearing experts agree that spanking is a proper method of child rearing. But there is no cry for the banning of spanking coming from the state's District Attorneys claiming that child abuse can not be controlled without the wholesale banning of spanking, even by parents that would never use a spanking to abuse their child.
No one condones child abuse and there are laws on the books now that make child abuse by a parent or anyone else a serious crime. Unfortunately AB 755 is the proverbial "throwing the baby out with the bath water" with a wholesale and unnecessary banning of a method of child rearing and discipline that has been in existence since men and women have first had children. AB 755 is another example of the state legislature's current tendency to pass laws that reach far into the family life of Californians in an improper and destructive way by not respecting parental rights.
I encourage you to write to your State Assembly person and State Senator (with a copy to the Governor) urging them to oppose this bill. Attached is a sample letter you can download, amend if you desire and mail out.
Craig P. Alexander, Esq.
Education Alliance Member
No%20on%20AB%20755.doc
On April 24, 2007 AB 755 received its first policy committee hearing. It passed on a party line vote but with an important amendment. The "rebuttable presumption" language that a parent was presumed to been unjustified in giving his / her child a spanking with a switch or other similar object was removed.
While this amendment is good, the bill is still based on flawed public policy. The state government has no business telling parents that a time honored method of disciplining children will now be illegal. Millions of parents in California use spanking as a method to reinforce to their child proper behavior and to protect them from harm (example: A child may not understand intellectually not to run out into the street due to the dangers of being run over by an automobile. However, that same two year old will likely associate running out into the street with a prior instance of pain from a spanking curbing the temptation to "go exploring" in the street). Not all parents or child rearing experts agree that spanking is a proper method of child rearing. But there is no cry for the banning of spanking coming from the state's District Attorneys claiming that child abuse can not be controlled without the wholesale banning of spanking, even by parents that would never use a spanking to abuse their child.
No one condones child abuse and there are laws on the books now that make child abuse by a parent or anyone else a serious crime. Unfortunately AB 755 is the proverbial "throwing the baby out with the bath water" with a wholesale and unnecessary banning of a method of child rearing and discipline that has been in existence since men and women have first had children. AB 755 is another example of the state legislature's current tendency to pass laws that reach far into the family life of Californians in an improper and destructive way by not respecting parental rights.
I encourage you to write to your State Assembly person and State Senator (with a copy to the Governor) urging them to oppose this bill. Attached is a sample letter you can download, amend if you desire and mail out.
Craig P. Alexander, Esq.
Education Alliance Member
No%20on%20AB%20755.doc
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