Many would invariably say a spank, others would claim a slap (not differentiating a slap across the face from a slap on the arm), while others would say that maybe employing the use of a belt or another household item to strike a child would be reasonable? And with what level of force may a mother strike her twelve-year-old son across the face? Does it differ from when the child is 8 to when the child is 14? Would it even be conceivable that all adults exercising reasonable corporal punishment would use it with the same severity, the same tone of voice, the same accompanying explanation, or any explanation for that matter? Surely the state must limit the degree to which reasonable corporal punishment is permitted, but it seems unclear as to how can such monitoring occur effectively? It seems nearly impossible to draw such lines acceptably, and to leave this matter in such a state of ambiguity seems invitingly dangerous
Not only does it seem nearly impossible for the authority to draw these lines clearly and safely, but it seems even more nearly impossible for the parents and custodians exercising this reasonable corporal punishment to always stay on their legal and allowable side of that line. .
I am forced to asked myself how I would react if someone were to aggressively slap me across the face in a bar one night or one a street. It is more than likely that I would call the police to report a physical assault against me, whether or not I had done something worthy of reprimanding. The issue at hand appears to be that someone was infringing upon my civil liberties to live peacefully and unharmed. It seems utterly unfair that parents should then have the right to do such a thing to a child, when if it was done to them, they would undoubtedly be outraged. Children surely should be recognized as human beings by the state just as much as their adult caretakers, so why could it be considered acceptable to physically punish them.