Parents Rights To Spank And The Police State

We are living in a police state.

No better evidence of this exists than one rather minor news story which cropped up in the past week. It did not concern some law enforcement official threatening a citizen, violating their fourth amendment rights. It did not involve detaining a citizen and taking them away to some sort of FEMA camp. It was not even the horrific account of a Connecticut teenager being forced to undergo chemotherapy against her parent's objections.

We've all heard of these stories of the violation of the constitutional rights of people to live (or die) for their own sake. The freedoms and liberties guaranteed us under the Constitution are being trampled upon increasingly day by day.

No, this one was a little more insidious and involved parental rights.

There has been an increasing attack on the rights of parents to raise their children the way they see fit and according to their beliefs. On of those rights coming under attack is the right to discipline with the time honored tradition of spanking.

A Florida father had to call in a sheriff's deputy to witness him spanking his 12 year old daughter after she had gotten into a fight with her sister. He did this for fear of being charged with child abuse for administering the discipline that the Bible commands Christian parents to do.

It is a fact that despite the tremendous outcry (at least publicly) against spanking by parents and legal guardians, parents still spank their kids when they need it, and rightly so.

Spanking, or corporal punishment is legal in all 50 states in America. Courts have ruled that parents do have the right to raise their children as they see fit, including the use of spanking. Individual states allow parents to spank as long as it is done in moderation and without any long term injury to the child or teen.

Let me be clear. Genuine cases of child abuse do exist. And states, through the use of agencies known as Child Protective Services or the Department of Children and families, have stepped in an in some cases have used their clout to have parents and guardians prosecuted for abusing their children. In many cases, the children were abused. But in many (and i would dare to say most) cases, parents were simply exercising their parental rights and responsibilities to discipline their children.

For his part, Noel Sheriff, the under sheriff for Okeechobee county said: 'There is a big difference between beating your child and disciplining your child. 

'Parents are seeking guidance on how to deal with their child. You are entitled to paddle your child, whether you use your hand, you use your belt or a paddle within reason as long as your paddling the buttocks.'

In this case, the 'whooping' was not considered to be a crime, so the deputy wrote up his police report and left the house.

Amazingly, this was not the first time that a parent has called the Okeechobee County sheriff's office to supervise a well deserved spanking. 

But the sheriff's office stated that while it is not 'advertising this type of service' they will come to your house if they're not busy on other calls.

Stephen added: 'It's definitely not something we advertise to do, and even though law enforcement has been willing to help out in this situation, watching a parent discipline their child is something that's done only when a deputy has no other calls to handle.'

The sheriff's office said it had received several similar requests in the past and Under sheriff Noel Stephen said he had personally supervised 12 spankings.

While it is a shame that it has come to this, it is comforting to know that if and when needed, local law enforcement will make themselves available to parents to ensure their rights are not violated.