By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org
    
DOVER, Delaware – Big government apparently has no boundaries. It’s now invading our homes and telling us how we must raise our children.
 
Delaware crossed that line earlier this month when it became the first state in the nation to ban parental spanking of children.
 
Under the new law signed by Gov. Jack Markell, “parents who are guilty of committing physical injury or pain to a child under the age of 18 would be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and subjected to a year in prison,” according to a report published by TheNewAmerican.com.
 
The “pain” clause is not describing parents who beat their children mercilessly with razor straps or two-by-fours, causing serious physical and emotional injuries. They’re talking about putting parents in prison for giving unruly kids a swat across the behind.
 
It was bad enough when many states banned corporal punishment in public schools. Discipline in the classroom has gone downhill since then, resulting in constant and unnecessary disruptions in the learning process
 
Now it’s becoming legally precarious for parents to take a strong stand with their children at a young age, before their behavior gets seriously out of hand.
 
It’s no wonder we’re seeing an entire generation of disrespectful, unruly kids causing havoc in communities across the nation.
 
Parents were already afraid to punish their children in any sort of physical manner, due to gray areas in so many state child abuse statutes. Now the parents of Delaware (and probably other states pretty soon) will officially be rendered nearly helpless in many instances to correct their children’s behavior.
 
And children – who are not dumb – have caught on to the fact that they no longer have to worry about certain types of punishment. They can do pretty much what they want, knowing mom and dad are limited in their responses to bad behavior. And in Delaware, a call to 9-1-1 can put parents behind bars if they dare raise a hand.
 
One must wonder who will be in charge of households in Delaware. Perhaps the answer is nobody at all.
 
Proponents of laws like these say the best way to discipline children is to appeal to their conscience and sense of right and wrong. But children are immature. They may know right from wrong, but sometimes, particularly under the influence of peers, they cross that line without thinking twice.
 
Fear plays a partial yet necessary role in properly raising children, just like it does in maintaining law and order in society. People fear prison, so they think twice about committing felonies. Children fear the unique humiliation of a spanking and think twice about breaking rules.
 
But in Delaware, physical punishment is no longer an option for parents. They are left to hope that time-outs and groundings will produce enough regret to keep children from repeating unacceptable behavior.
 
Best of luck to those hog-tied parents.  And shame on the overreaching lawmakers of Delaware for continuing to chip away at parents’ ability to raise their children into decent, respectful adults.