Have we gone too far with the idea of child protection?

I am a mother of two small children whom I do discipline with the occasional spanking. However, when I am in public, I am literally afraid to even touch my children for fear that someone will see me and report me. So, what am I supposed to do when my kids are screaming at the top of their lungs that they want this or that? Should I calmly take my kicking 4 or 2 year old and try to explain to them the wrongs of their actions?

I just think we have really gone too far with this. A parent has the right to rear their child as they see fit, as long as the children do not come to any harm.

I mean, I knew a woman who almost lost her kids because a neighbor reported to the local child protection agency that she might be beating her kids. She wasn't. While on the other hand, a man who did beat his little 3 year old girl ended up beating her to death. She had been taken away many times, but these agencies just kept giving her back until one time, she stumbled onto her lawn and collapsed from broken ribs and a punctured lung.



[edit on 13-5-2005 by seraph5]

[edit on 13-5-2005 by dbates]