Via Conor, this story is utterly insane. Excerpt:
Tamera Jo Freeman was on a Frontier Airlines flight to Denver in 2007 when her two children began to quarrel over the window shade and then spilled a Bloody Mary into her lap.She spanked each of them on the thigh with three swats. It was a small incident, but one that in the heightened anxiety after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would eventually have enormous ramifications for Freeman and her children.
A flight attendant confronted Freeman, who responded by hurling a few profanities and throwing what remained of a can of tomato juice on the floor.
The incident aboard the Frontier flight ultimately led to Freeman's arrest and conviction for a federal felony defined as an act of terrorism under the Patriot Act, the controversial federal law enacted after the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
"I had no idea I was breaking the law," said Freeman, 40, who spent three months in jail before pleading guilty.
The state took her children and put them into foster care. They are now in the process of being adopted by their foster parents in Hawaii -- and their biological mother can't fly to be there at the custody hearings because a condition of her probation is that she not be allowed to fly.
There's got to be more to this story. Surely there is more to this story (this column suggests there might be). If not, this poor mother has suffered a terrible, terrible injustice. She behaved terribly -- but should she have her two children taken from her? Is there evidence that she was a chronic abuser? I want to know more.
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IF this story is even remotely true, why are we not outraged by a mother losing her children over this. Why is this not all over the news???IF it is not illegal to spank your children why did she lose them?? For getting being belligerent to the flight attendant?
I am confused
She should have used a spanking simulator like iSpank for the iPhone.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=303656259&mt=8
In response to Holly's comment - I wonder if that was how the Germans felt back in the 30's? "Get in lockstep", just surrender to a government that is overstepping its authority? Just make sure you CYA. Don't worry about what they are doing to your neighbor, they won't come for you, because you are on the radar.
I don't think so. I, for one, am glad that there was a group of men a few hundred years ago that had a different attitude. They stood up to a tyrant and yes, many died, lost their fortunes, some their honor, but millions of people have lived the American Dream because they understood that sometimes what is right is worth fighting and dying for if necessary.
Without all the intimate details of this case, it is hard to make a fair assessment of what really happened, but we should all pay close attention anytime the government at any level steps between parents and children.
While the action taken of removing children from their parents is extreme and unnecessary in these cases, people need to become aware of the difference between child buttock-battering and DISCIPLINE.
Child buttock-battering for the purpose of gaining compliance is nothing more than an inherited bad habit.
Its a good idea for people to take a look at what they are doing, and learn how to DISCIPLINE instead of hit.
I think the reason why television shows like "Supernanny" and "Dr. Phil" are so popular is because that is precisely what many (not all) people are trying to do.
There are several reasons why child buttock-battering isn't a good idea. Here are some good, quick reads recommended by professionals:
Plain Talk About Spanking
by Jordan Riak,
The Sexual Dangers of Spanking Children
by Tom Johnson,
NO VITAL ORGANS THERE, So They Say
by Lesli Taylor M.D. and Adah Maurer Ph.D.
Most compelling of all reasons to abandon this worst of all bad habits is the fact that buttock-battering can be unintentional sexual abuse for some children. There is an abundance of educational resources, testimonies, documentation, etc available on the subject that can easily be found by doing a little research on "spanking".
Just a handful of those helping to raise awareness of why child buttock-battering isn't a good idea:
American Academy of Pediatrics,
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
Center for Effective Discipline,
PsycHealth, Ltd. Behavioral Health Professionals,
Churches' Network for Non-Violence,
Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
Parenting in Jesus' Footsteps,
The LDS Church (http://education.byu.edu/youcandothis/spanking.html
click "quotes on spanking")
Global Initiative To End All Corporal Punishment of Children,
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In 26 countries child buttock-battering is prohibited by law. In fact, the US was the only UN member that did not ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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