Editorial: Let the parents be parents

Monday, Jan. 29, 2007 | 7:27 a.m.

In California a state lawmaker is proposing to outlaw spanking - in the home.

Under Assemblywoman Sally Lieber's plan, it would be a crime to spank a child 3 years old or younger and a parent, or anyone else, who spanked could face up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

"In a sense I kind of feel like, 'Hey, is this the biggest issue we ought to be dealing with?' " Lieber told the San Jose Mercury News. "But then again, children of a very young age shouldn't be beaten, so this is a fundamental issue."

Lieber is right to say that children being beaten is a fundamental issue, which is why there are laws against child abuse that should be aggressively enforced. She is wrong to include spanking with child abuse.

While spanking has become a controversial subject, the question of whether or not a parent should use spanking as a means of discipline should be made by parents, not the government.

The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that the overwhelming majority of parents have used spanking as a form of discipline. The academy says spanking could be defined as a slap on the hand of a child about to touch a hot stove - can you imagine a father being arrested because he tried to keep his daughter from burning herself?

The bottom line is that parents - not the government - are in the best position to raise a child. Enforce the laws that are on the books, and let the parents be parents.