I do think it does cross the line a tad. Excessively beating your children is plain wrong, however slapping a child or spanking them isn't. 

It's a bit tad.  You can bet your sweet bippy that if I needed to hurt/push my child out of the way to prevent a bigger injury...I'm gonna do it.  Whether it's a slap on the hand because they are near an iron or the stove, or a shove to get them out of the way of an oncoming car in the parking lot...I'd do whatever I needed to do to protect my little one.

  I am 100% against physical punishment as a form of discipline. I do not believe it teaches children anything but fear, resentment, and can easily create a vicious cycle of abuse (parent hits kid, kid grows up and hits their spouse/kid, second kid grows up and hits spouse/kid....ugghh!) I know many parents believe spanking is okay, and I will admit I've been tempted to swat at my kids when my patience has dwindled and their behavior has escalated, but I feel there are many more constructive and effective ways to discipline children that do not involve striking them. Time outs, loss of privilages, no dessert after dinner, groundings.... I know I dreaded being sent to the corner/to my room, losing my privilages, and being grounded SO much more than I hated being spanked. Yes, the swat hurt, but only for a minute, and then I could just go on my merry way afterward. Getting grounded meant I couldn't go out and play or watch tv for a specific amount of time, and that was a lot harder to tolerate than a spanking.

I do wonder if this new proposal goes a bit far. Although I do not raise my hands to my children, I see other parents give their kids a quick swat, and most of the children don't even flinch because it really didn't hurt at all, so I'm not sure I would agree with sending said parent to prison. I can also see how some parents would feel this law would infringe upon their rights, but since I don't spank, it wouldn't be an issue for me.

 I can also see how this law would be helpful because some children receive spankings much more severe than the ones I have seen that leave marks and make it difficult for the child to walk and sit. I also feel spanking can lead to other forms of physical discipline that are much more harmful, especially when a parent sees spanking no longer phases their child.....Maybe that was just my own personal experience growing up, though.....

Spare the rod, spoil the child. Rotten fruit is good only to maggots and flies.

This is ridiculous. Spanking, while not advisable in all situations, has been an accepted form of discipline for generations. I have never known a child to be seriously injured just from being spanked occasionally. Kids need discipline, and saying "Now, Johnny, that was bad" is just not enough. Also, I have never met a child that time outs worked for.

@laytexduckie@xanga - I'm not trying to downplay anything you wrote in your comment, but I do have a question: These troublemakers in your neighborhood, are they acting out, in your opinion, due to a lack of physical discipline, or would you say their behavior is due to a lack of discipline all together? I grew up in a home where we were spanked (among other things), and my brothers got into all sorts of trouble like that. It was a lack of supervision that led to my brothers causing problems in the neighborhood.

I do agree with you on the vagueness of the proposed bill leading to unnecessary arrests. Good thing it's just a bill right now, and hopefully, the specifics change a bit if it goes any further.

This is tough. As a parent thinking of putting my child in "pain" makes me sick. But if I smack her butt gently, I'm sure that hurts a little right? But of course that is not child abuse. There is no way to draw a clear line between discipline and abuse. Some parents consider whipping with a belt discipline, and to me that is abuse. There has to be laws. But in all seriousness, if a cop sees you spank your child gently in public, are they going to arrest you? No. This law is probably just going to cover the idiotic parents who abuse their kids and call it spanking or discipline. 

     I am still 17 and think this is outright crazy! A household is a child's government until they become an adult and this country is sliding towards communism this is just another step that has crossed the line. Just think about it, our founding fathers were BEAT as children as a result they had strong morals and knew that there are consequences for actions. I have appreciated getting slapped whipped with a switch, belt or paddle because it taught me right from wrong. It is putting a child in danger not to whip him or her, if a baby tries to put its finger in a electrical outlet you better SLAP its hand because a baby will understand that sting more than moving it or saying no and if you did just move it or say no I promise you he or she will do it again only the next time it might be at office or a friends house where there are no covers on the outlets. So, yes, I believe if you haven't caused your child some pain you are a VERY bad parent.

Also, since I have been whipped, slapped, and beat with a switch; I can say from first hand experience it has taught me self-control and discipline. I started college at 16 and had above a 3.0 GPA. I was not abused I was taught that there are consequences for doing wrong or right. I know someone who wasn't punished as a child and only talked to so, he went into the real world expecting it to be like that but instead landed himself in prison!  This world has been around thousands of years and children were always bent across the knee or slapped so, what makes it abuse now?! Nothing at all! Not to mention that this country is steadily getting worse and worse our Constitutional Republic became a Democracy and is now sliding towards communistic ideals.  And now they want to control how we raise our children? I am sorry but, when I have Children I want to raise them according to my beliefs not those of the majority around me. During the holocaust the Jews were the minority and the people murdering them were the majority yet, this did not make attempting to wipe a people of the face of this planet right. Nor, is it right for the Majority to decide how I raise my child because if you control the children you control the nation!

I'm a bit confused about something.... How does not being spanked make children "bratty?" I've read a few comments equating the lack of physical discipline with misbehavior, and I, personally, do not agree with these opinions. There are other ways to discipline a child that do no not involve hitting, and if implemented consistently, work very well.

My daughter will be 6 this year, and she has the attitude of a teenager sometimes. She doesn't misbehave so much as she back talks. A verbal warning sometimes gets her to tone down the sass, but if not, it's off to the corner for 5 1/2mins. When a time out isn't enough to put a stop to the behavior, a loss of a special toy or her radio, or not getting to do something/have something (i.e. dessert) will do the trick. My 3 year old son gets the same punishments, and they are just as effective with him as they are with his older sister. My youngest, who is 2, is learning all about how boring it is to sit in the corner, and so far, it's worked wonders. I do not resort to spanking or slapping or any other form of physical discipline, and do not feel my children are "bratty" because they get sent to the corner instead. My brother in law and his wife spank their 3 kids, and none of them care one bit. They are, for lack of a better description, out of control. I don't know how they are at home, but when we're all together, those 3 are so disobedient, it nearly floors me. They get a spanking, and go right back to whatever it was they were doing that got them spanked.... If physical discipline is the only effective way to rear a child, why don't my nieces and nephew respond accordingly?

@rachmorgan01 - Hahah, nah. It's all good. I know you're just curious. :)

Oh, and all kids act like brats sometimes, that is just human nature. And your daughter sounds allot like my niece who is very sensitive and only gets whipped for serious  infractions of rules she is also a sweetheart when it comes right down to it..

@Brianna - I was spanked as a child. I was also slapped, pushed, kicked and dragged by my hair. My parents tied me to a post in the unfinished basement when I was only 4. My dad held my mouth shut so tightly, my braces cut into the insides of my lips when I was 15. I had red marks, bruises, welts, and sore muscles. One time, my mother left a complete handprint on the side of my face. I was constantly being yelled/screamed at, horrible insults were thrown at me, and I spent most of my childhood hating myself. I was always told the beatings were justified because I "deserved them," and when I questioned my parents' methods, my mother would freak out and say: "Well, if you could learn to keep your mouth shut, your father wouldn't have to hit you." After experiencing a childhood filled with fear, pain, anger and self loathing, forgive me for completely disagreeing with you concerning the effectiveness of physical discipline.