By Sean Sullivan Lagniappe columnist

I think the adage is “spare the rod spoil the child” and if California lawmaker Sally Lieber has her way there will be a whole lot of spoiled children in the Golden State. State Rep. Sally Lieber, a Democrat, has proposed a law that would make spanking any child under age 4 a crime punishable by jail time or a fine of $1,000. While the “rod” may be popular in many of the S&M clubs that populate her home city of San Francisco, I think the main tool utilized spanking American children is a parents’ hand and that decision should be left in those hands. Spare the rod spoil the state Ms. Lieber!

A law like this being put forth in California is no big surprise as California is a “progressive state,” meaning primarily that it is progressively out of touch with the rest if the country. Rep. Lieber said, “I think it’s pretty hard to argue you need to beat a child three years old or younger.” Hey Ms. Lieber aren’t there laws on the books in California against beating children? A spanking is not beating; that is why there is a different word for it.

Spankings may not be necessary for many children and those parents are lucky, but a pop on the bottom is the only way to get the attention of some youngsters. Of course this wouldn’t fall into the assemblywoman’s decision making because she has no children of her own, which in turn gives her the extra time to come up with asinine laws like this one.

I think the real danger of this proposed law, if it passes, is that the people of California stood idly by and let the government come into their home and regulate how they raise their children. The idea that the politburo knows better than mom and dad is one fed by apathy and ignorance.

The other worry I have is in the language of Lieber’s proposal. In the proposal the cutoff for not spanking is 4 years old. So somewhat arbitrarily, after the child’s fourth birthday, you can introduce a whole new system of discipline (or discipline at all) to his life. Yeah that won’t be a confusing and de-stabilizing bomb to drop on a 4-year-old. I’m also trying to figure out if the kids are going to have to carry some sort of identification to prove their age. If mama sees the need to take junior out of the grocery store for a butt poppin’ he better have proof of age in case five-o rolls up and attempts to arrest his mother for underage spanking.

I also wonder about the time police would spend trying to enforce a law like this instead of tracking down and arresting real child abusers. If Lieber was truly interested in the welfare of California’s youngest citizens, she would focus on enforcing the anti-abuse laws that are already part of state law. I think her agenda is less about protecting children and more about the control of their moms and dads.

Hopefully the voters of California are still more afraid of big brother than big mama and will tell their reps not to pass this bill. If they don’t voice dissent and this measure passes they all deserve a spanking.

Sean Sullivan is Lagniappe lagniappe columnist. Contact him at ssullivan@lagniappemobile.com.

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