Comes to find out, the Brazilian government may try to outlaw spanking. Will they outlaw handguns? Noooo! But heaven forbid you spank your children.
So we can all see which side I'm on. Before you run off and get your noose and pitchfork, I'm not one of the hardcore breed of spankers.
Here's my spanking philosophy. A spank is a last minute resort punishment. It happens when you either can't do the normal punishment and/or they do something very serious/dangerous that needs stopped ASAP.
That being said, I do not believe a spank should hurt. I'm not a sling my kid over my knee and whack 'em type of girl. A spank is a quick and sudden tap that will wake the little one up. It doesn't hurt, it surprises.
For this to work, you can not use the spank often. If you over use it, you have to increase your strength, and you see where this slippery slope goes.
I think that may be the problem down here. Hell, it may be the problem all over the world. I am glad Brazil is trying to step things up. I am well aware that there's a lot lacking in the child protective services area, and I applaud them for pushing legislation forward. A law will also be coming out in September making car seats mandatory.
On an ironic note, you may be driving a ghetto big tin matchbox that will explode on contact with another vehicle, but your baby will be safely belted in. You can't spank them but you can belt them to your back and take them on a motorcycle ride through the crazy streets of Rio de Janeiro.
It takes anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes to get an ambulance, 8 hours wait at any run of the mill public hospital, and years to get something processed at court.
But we'll take what we can get. I believe you have to start somewhere and protecting children is an honorable way to do it!
For more information, check out the BBC news article on the subject: Legal ban on Smacking
If I remember correctly, some years ago the government was going to outlaw guns but it became such a political hot potato they wound up putting the idea to a popular vote. The citizens voted to keep hanguns legal and available. It was the old: if guns are illegal only criminals will have guns scare job. And I believe the US NRA lobby was involved in the campaign.
ReplyDeleteI see less spanking here than I did in the States.
I remember that. And so do I! Brazilians let their kids get away with murder ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that there hasn't been a car seat law before now. I guess I took it for granted that there would already be one. I suppose it's just one of the many, many differences I will soon encounter!
ReplyDeleteWe'll be moving to Rio with our clunky Britax car seat...I wonder if the cars in Rio will have the LATCH?
I bet the new ones will. And you can find foreign cars that def will like BMW.
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