Garrick van Buren

There, I said it.

Spanking a child is child abuse. There, I said it again.

For three reasons:

1. If same action anywhere else on the body would be considered abuse – it’s abuse.
2. It shows children that bigger, stronger people have the right to hurt smaller people. So, big brothers think it’s OK to strike their little brothers.
3. Not putting spanking on the list of disciplinary options – even as a “last resort” – doesn’t make it an option.

If adding spanking into the definition of child abuse isn’t possible, then yes, striking a child under 4 should be punishable by a year in jail and $1,000 fine. Kudos to California Assemblywoman Sally Lieber for initiating an anti-spanking bill.

I learned about this from NPR’s Day to Day: California Lawmaker Pushes Anti-Spanking Bill

Seems to me, programs that encourage parents to send their kids to schools outside of their immediate neighborhood is a bad idea in a number of ways:

1. Gives parents no incentive to improve their schools or neighborhoods.
2. Makes bad schools worse by reducing their resources.
3. Redirects education dollars into fuel tanks to bus kids further away and back.
4. Increases the strain and demand on “good” schools, making them less good.

Disclaimer:
My kid isn’t school age yet, the schools in my neighborhood are pretty good.

LATER:
There’s a parallel in here with immigration. Until Mexico is a place worth staying at, borders will continue to be jumped. This only helps the bus drivers.