Hmmmm.... I wonder what this generation of degenerates would be like if their parents weren't afraid to discipline them? Probably a lot better behaved! There are children killing each other in our streets! You know why? They have no fear, it's almost like a 'what are you gonna do about it' attitude. What are you gonna tell a 15 year old murderer.... 'Behave now or next time I'll put you in time out' or maybe 'if your a good boy I'll give you a hug and a lollipop'. This passive aggressive crap is just absurd! Who is going to try reason with a child that sticking their finger in a light socket is a bad idea, give me a break! You are doing more harm not disciplining, you know some say that time out is a form of neglect. What will they do for those outstanding parents who don't hit and instead verbally beat down their child? Words hurt worse than a spanking any day. You sure use that term "hit" loosely. There is a huge difference between spanking your child and 'hitting' them. It makes it sound like parents who use spanking as a form of discipline are knocking their kids lights out. It's infuriating to be honest. I was spanked as a child and had my mouth popped for being a smart mouth, you know what happened... I learned to watch my mouth and respect my parents! I don't have nightmares or self esteem issues.... I'm a perfectly normal person and getting spankings when I was a child doesn't stand out in my mind. All this is doing is creating a lot of spoiled kids with the upper hand, you don't think that they are smart enough to just stretch the truth a little because they are angry with their parents? A friend of mine in high school did exactly that and by the time she was sorry for it, it was to late she was already removed from the home. Don't get me wrong, I know that there are children that are being abused everyday all over the world. It's disgusting I agree, but spanking your child to teach right and wrong- you can't even compare the two. I think that one of the main problems that I have with it is the government needs to take a step back. Do you not realize while your fighting for your ideals that you are just giving the government just a little more control over your life. Communism rings a bell... By the time they are done telling us what we CAN do , we'll have no choice in anything we do. Why have children if you can't even raise them on your own. I love how you've managed to compare this all to smoking, that ones really good! There are places that you aren't even aloud to smoke outside in the open air BUT if you don't really feel like having a baby right now you can run right out and get that taken care of! Right? you see where I'm going with all of this? To plan for a child, carry it for nine months, have hopes and dreams and love that child BUT oh wait here are a list of guide lines to that and if those guide lines say no peas well then NO PEAS or we'll just have to step in handle this. I also can't believe that you compare a dog to a child! That dog isn't going to grow up and be an active participant in our community! Should a child be 'put down' if it bites another child? Get real guy. All of this effort should be put to use elsewhere like for the children who REALLY need help!