I live in one of the states where violent child abuse is illegal.  I say violent because non-violent forms of child abuse are all too often practiced in the form of child slave labor, false imprisonment and so forth.  But in the following states, it is legal to violently abuse children: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.  In these states, a wide variety of individuals are allowed to beat children legally.

Child-beating is not Christian.  If you read the teachings of Jesus, he was opposed to child abuse of any kind.  Most Christians don't accept the teachings of Christ, and some religions even encourage child-beating.  The Taliban supported corporal punishment.  But the Jews can't say this is a Muslim thing.  The Jewish Bible is one of the most violent religious books in history.  It encourages child-beating and even  child-killing, ala Abraham and Isaac. Religious discussions on the subject are, therefore, unworkable.

Some time back, husbands were legally allowed to beat their wives.  This was not the case in civilized societies.  It was the case in various places within the United States.  The arguments they would use were than the wives were stupid and had an inferior intelligence and needed to be beaten so as to learn proper behavior.  This is similar language that is used with respect to corporal punishment. In State v. Rhodes, 1868 and State v Oliver, 1874, two different courts discussed the legality of wife-beating. 

Women have never had an inferior intelligence and neither do children.  Violence only creates more violence.   Why is it alright for parents and school officials to beat children and not for children to beat other children?  Could the Oklahoma City bomber have cited Oklahoma's support for child-beating an excuse for what happened to the children in the nursery?  Would the children killed have preferred the fate he delivered to the beatings he saved them from in the Oklahoma School system?  Do some Oklahoma children, following a legalized school beating, wish they had been in the Murrah Building?

What will the children of the 22 states that have legalized child-beating do when they reach adulthood?  If it was alright to beat them when they were helpless, is it alright for them to beat or kill others who are helpless?  Is this the reason for the current school shootings?   Were the perpetrators of the Columbine Shooting legally beaten when they were younger?  They were in a state where child-beating was legal.  How many of those who have perpetrated violence in other schools were legally beaten by school authorities or by their parents?  Is it any wonder that there are so many wars and terrorist attacks?

Alabama, Arizona,  Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana,  Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, , Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming have both corporal punishment and capital punishment.  If kids survive being beaten by their parents and the school authorities, they get to be executed by the state for becoming the kind of individuals corporal punishment has made of them.

If the cycle of violence is to end, those with the power must end the beatings and the killings of members of our society.  The voters must refuse to elect leaders who support either corporal punishment or capital punishment.  They must learn to treat children with respect.  That is the only way to set the stage for peace.

Copyright © 2006 by Shannon A. and creativeyouth.net. All rights reserved.

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