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House OKs corporal punishment
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3141204
Parents, guardians would be allowed to spank children as a punishment
By JEFFREY GILBERT
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
RESOURCES
AUSTIN - After little debate, the House on Monday gave preliminary approval to a measure that gives parents the right to use reasonable corporal punishment to discipline a child.
Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, said he filed the bill because there are a number of people in Texas who do not believe they have the right to spank or hit their children.
Dutton, a lawyer, heard about the problems from town hall meetings he attended. He also represented a Houston grandmother who was arrested for whipping her 14-year-old granddaughter.
"The grandma's question to the judge was, 'Should I have sent her to her room to timeout? Should I have taken away her video games? Or do I do something that's drastic enough to try to turn her life around?' " Dutton said.
An amendment was added to the bill that specifically gives parents, stepparents and guardians who have control of the child the right to use corporal punishment.
A few lawmakers raised questions over whether that list covered grandparents. Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Houston, asked Dutton, "I didn't see grandparents on there, so I can't bust the bottom of my little grandson?"
Because of the confusion, Dutton will add grandparent to the list before it is heard for final passage.
While paddling is banned in Houston schools, Dutton said that under state law a parent can give a public or private school consent to use corporal punishment.
He said he had intended to file a bill that gave schools the option to give students "three pops" in lieu of a three-day suspension. He didn't file it because "it wasn't germane," he said.
A similar bill was passed by the House last legislative session but was left pending in a Senate committee.
Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston, said she is opposed to spanking altogether and has filed a bill that would amend the education code and outlaw corporal punishment in schools. Some 28 other states already have a similar law.
Allen said the use of hitting demeans children and can lead to such things as lower test scores. She said children who are hit also tend to hit other children.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3141204
Parents, guardians would be allowed to spank children as a punishment
By JEFFREY GILBERT
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
RESOURCES
AUSTIN - After little debate, the House on Monday gave preliminary approval to a measure that gives parents the right to use reasonable corporal punishment to discipline a child.
Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, said he filed the bill because there are a number of people in Texas who do not believe they have the right to spank or hit their children.
Dutton, a lawyer, heard about the problems from town hall meetings he attended. He also represented a Houston grandmother who was arrested for whipping her 14-year-old granddaughter.
"The grandma's question to the judge was, 'Should I have sent her to her room to timeout? Should I have taken away her video games? Or do I do something that's drastic enough to try to turn her life around?' " Dutton said.
An amendment was added to the bill that specifically gives parents, stepparents and guardians who have control of the child the right to use corporal punishment.
A few lawmakers raised questions over whether that list covered grandparents. Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Houston, asked Dutton, "I didn't see grandparents on there, so I can't bust the bottom of my little grandson?"
Because of the confusion, Dutton will add grandparent to the list before it is heard for final passage.
While paddling is banned in Houston schools, Dutton said that under state law a parent can give a public or private school consent to use corporal punishment.
He said he had intended to file a bill that gave schools the option to give students "three pops" in lieu of a three-day suspension. He didn't file it because "it wasn't germane," he said.
A similar bill was passed by the House last legislative session but was left pending in a Senate committee.
Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston, said she is opposed to spanking altogether and has filed a bill that would amend the education code and outlaw corporal punishment in schools. Some 28 other states already have a similar law.
Allen said the use of hitting demeans children and can lead to such things as lower test scores. She said children who are hit also tend to hit other children.