Proposal Aims To Ban Spanking In Massachusetts
Poll
Do you think spanking children should be against the law?

(WBZ) BOSTON A controversial proposal that would make spanking illegal in the state of Massachusetts is being debated on Beacon Hill.

Kathleen Wolf, an Arlington nurse, is spearheading the effort to make Massachusetts the first state to outlaw corporal punishment.

"My 16-year-old daughter came home from school and told me about a friend of hers who was being hit," Wolf said. "She said, 'Mom, we have to do something.'"

Wolf said it was then that she began to look at the issue of corporal punishment and spanking after she, too, had spanked her daughter and seen it as a child.

If her proposal becomes law, parents could be charged with abuse or neglect for forcefully laying a hand on their child unless they are trying to wrest that child from danger.

"I remember from being a 10-year-old kid and being in a family where there was a lot of corporal punishment and thinking, 'Why isn't anyone doing anything?'" Wolfe said.

The proposal would ban spanking of children under 18 years old in the home as well as in public.

The State Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that parents can spank their kids provided they don't threaten bodily injury.

Sweden was the first country to ban spanking in 1979. Numerous other countries have also banned corporal punishment, including Greece, Germany, Israel and Bulgaria.

Wolf's proposal will be debated at a State House hearing Wednesday morning.

State representative Jay Kaufman, who is presenting the bill for Wolfe, says the issue isn't about punishing parents.

"We need to have a serious public conversation, not about spanking -- that isn't what this is about -- but where people cross the line and are abusing their children," Kaufman said.

Author and psychologist Teresa Whitehurst is working with Wolf on the legislation.

"It's important to set limits," Whitehurst said. "I've seen children who have either become very fearful of authority or very defiant of authority when there is a lot of spanking used at home."

Wolf and Whitehurst plan to testify Wednesday when the bill is presented. The legislation process is long and will likely involve some changes to the language of the bill.

While the bill may not pass this time around, Wolf said it has already done part of what it should -- to get people thinking about the issue.

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