-Delaware: Spank a Child Go to Jail?
by Dr. D ~ June 29th, 2012
(Map of Delaware – Wikipedia)
A law passed on June 19 in the Delaware Senate, Bill 234, could make spanking a child a crime punishable by up to two years in jail. The bill is now being reviewed by a judiciary committee in the General Assembly.
The bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Patricia M. Blevins, redefines the term “physical injury” in the child abuse and neglect laws to broadly include any act that causes “pain.”
“This bill establishes the offense of Child Abuse,” the proposed legislation states. “These new statutes combine current statutes and redefine physical injury and serious physical injury to reflect the medical realities of pain and impairment suffered by children.”
If this law is passed by the state House, “Delaware would become the first state in the nation to outlaw corporal discipline of children by their parents.”
Response: Getting child abuse under control is an important goal for any state or government. However, the goal should be to eliminate real and actual physical injuries inflected upon children and not disciplinary actions that merely cause a slight momentary discomfort or pain.
A law that punishes “any act that causes pain” is so inclusive and subjective that it is an open carte blanche invitation for state bureaucrats to intrude upon the lives of any families they may choose for nearly any reason.
It is the threat of ‘big brother’ that should give every one a pause of concern. Given the fact that many secularists consider raising children in a particular religion as ‘Child abuse’ and many Christians believe in using forms of corporal punishment in disciplining their children, the law could actually become an excuse for restricting religious freedom and for the persecution of Christian families in Delaware.
Also, the “any act that causes pain” is such a low threshold one can easily predict that all sorts of abusive uses will be found for the law. Can you imagine your 6 year old son or grandchild hitting the neighbor’s 4 year old over a dispute involving a toy and being hauled away by family services after a complaint by your unfriendly neighbor. Maybe the jerky neighbor on the other side that you continually have run-ins with over the property line turns you in after hearing your son crying in the backyard over the pain of a missed hardball hitting him in the face. You threw it and now you’re going to jail since your child told the police he was sure you did it on purpose. Then there is the case of the little sister calling 911 after her brother hit her in a typical sibling dispute.
Bottom line, the law could be a nightmare to administer if passed and a tool of oppression in the wrong hands. *Top
