Published, NY Times: January 23, 2007
To the Editor:
Re ''A Proposal to Ban Spanking Sparks Debate'' (news article, Jan. 21):
As a psychotherapist who has worked with families, and as a parent who has raised three well-behaved, loving and respectful children, I can say unequivocally that corporal punishment of a child is never necessary.
It is the last resort of parents who have failed to establish their true authority as adults, which is rooted not in their physical superiority but rather in their emotional maturity, wisdom and self-confidence.
Children need parents to be right in their guidance and want the limits and boundaries that protective parents set for them. They are totally dependent on adults for everything, especially in those early years that the California legislation addresses.
Parents who use violence as a means of controlling their kids, just like parents who overindulge their children, are equally guilty of abdicating their responsibility to be grown-ups in their roles as mentors.
Peter Loffredo
Brooklyn, Jan. 21, 2007