MA Legislators Need A Good Spanking

That's the consensus from my listeners as Beacon Hill prepares to debate a bill to outlaw corporal punishment in Massachusetts.

As the Boston Herald reports, "if signed into law, parents would be prohibited from forcefully laying a hand on any child under age 18 unless it was to wrest them from danger, lest they be charged with abuse or neglect."

The bill was filed at the request of a local nurse, Kathleen Wolf, who claims she was traumatized as a young child when her siblings were spanked. You can hear my exclusive "first-in-Boston" interview with Ms. Wolf on the podcast page of www.969wtkk.com.

Meanwhile, listeners are speaking out:

DEJUAN: They (the government officials) have officially gone too far. The government should stay the hell out of my household. This is the reason children die on Roxbury streets. As a child if I were to disrespect anyone my mother would spank me and then my father would spank me for upsetting my mother. This is getting out of hand and if the sane people don't take a stand we are destined to be held captive by KIDS....

KATHY: Michael, I don’t agree with you about spanking. You can’t say that kids are better behaved because they’re spanked. I decided never to hit my child and he is much better behaved then his cousins who are spanked. The reason I decided not to spank was because I believe spanking is a cop-out. It’s used when parents don’t know how to handle the situation with their children. There are other ways to discipline that is proven more successful. However, I don’t believe that there should be a law about spanking.

STEPHANIE: I am not for abortion but borrowing fromt Bill Clinton- spanking should be "save, legal and rare."

ANDREW: You know, Michael, where this is heading . . . as soon as spanking is outlawed between parents and children, the next thing they'll outlaw is spanking between consenting adults!!! We must draw the line here!

UPDATE: Good news! It looks like this idiotic bill is DOA, according to the latest media reports.