Proposed Bill to Ban Spanking Supported by Many

California's state legislature is considering passing a law that would ban spanking children, making California the first and only state to outlaw spanking as punishment. The bill was proposed by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, a Democrat, and will ban parents from spanking any child 4 years of age or younger. In effect any parent caught spanking would face a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine up to $1,000. Lieber promises to introduce this bill next week.

Though this is seen as a groundbreaking human rights proposal in the United States, it is another step forward than many other countries have already taken. In 15 European countries it is illegal for a parent or a teacher to hit a child. Sweden (1979), Finland (1983), Norway (1987), Austria (1989), Cyprus (1994), Denmark (1997), Latvia (1998), Croatia (1999), Bulgaria (2000), Germany (2000), Iceland (2003), Romania (2004), Ukraine (2004) and Hungary (2005), and Greece (2007) all have passed laws that protect children from physical punishment by spanking. Several human rights groups, such as End Punishment of Children (EPOCH) and Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE), have worked hard to raise awareness to the negative effects that spanking can have on a child.

The ban on spanking bill is expected to meet with opposition from many Republicans. Issues such as how such a bill can be enforced and fears that legislation of that nature could be over-regulating the family lives of those in California are a few of the complaints that have already been voiced. But opposition to the bill could change over time. In 1978 When Sweden passed legislation to stop spanking 70% of population polled were against it. However just twenty years later a new poll in 1997 showed that only 10% were still against a ban on spanking, showing that the cultural feeling on spanking had greatly changed.