Public spanking: is it the answer to teen crime?

A group of angry citizens gathers in the town square. The day's event: a public spanking. The town sheriff leads a 13-year-old kid into the center of the crowd and onto a Platform. The crowd hollers. "Serves you right!" yells one woman. The boy is told to bend over. He does. The sheriff raises a wooden paddle high in the air and whacks the child's behind

The crowd counts along as the sheriff belts out the boy's punishment: "One, two, three, four. . . "

This is not a scene from Colonial times. It's a scene lawmakers from California to New Hampshire want to see take place in our nation's cities and towns. Those legislators want to bring back corporal punishment to fight teen crime.

Bring Back the Belt!

Lawmakers in at least nine states have recently considered allowing judges to sentence teens to public Spankings for minor crimes such as vandalism. A New Hampshire bill, Proposed by state Rep. Philip Cobbin, would give juries the right to set the number of blows to be given. Many of the bills are based on the Singapore law under which U.S. teen Michael Fay received four lashes with a cane in 1994.

In most U.S. cities and towns, judges sentence kids convicted of minor crimes to pay fines or to clean up city property. Cobbin and his supporters say those sentences are too light. Instead, officials say, harsh laws are needed to keep kids from committing crimes.

Cobbin's proposal has Many supporters. "These little turkeys have got total contempt for us, and it's time to do something," says one lawmaker. "The sheriff should paddle [the delinquent's] butt in front of his buddies so the kid won't be a hero."

Parents to Officials. Butt Out!

Many people support public spanking, but others say it's a bad idea. Among the naysayers are some patents who believe only a child's guardian should decide whether to spank.

"I have three kids, and I don't [spank them hard] when they do wrong," says one New Hampshire parent. "Spanking degrades kids, and you don't degrade to teach respect."

Would you support public spanking in your city or town? Why or why not?

Legal experts say the increased interest in public spanking laws is part of a greater U.S. movement toward alternative sanctions. Proponents of such measures say the usual terms of punishment--jail time, fines, and community service--aren't working. Instead, those people say, we need to consider methods that will shame people into acting in a way that's more acceptable to society.

Here's a look at some alternative sentences handed down recently by U.S. judges and juries:

* Names of drug users and drunk drivers are routinely being published in U.S. newspapers or on billboards.

* Some drunk drivers have been required to place license plates or bumper stickers announcing the conviction on their automobile.

* Slumlords have been sentenced to house arrest in their own slums.

* Juvenile offenders have been ordered to apologize to their victims on their hands and knees.

* Victims of burglars have been allowed to enter the burglar's home and remove items at will.

Some people who support Publicly humiliating sentences point to the high crime rate in the U.S. While the U.S. has 519 people imprisoned for every 100,000 citizens, Japan has only 36. If U.S. society more clearly defined right and wrong through public humiliation sentences, supporters say, crime rates would drop significantly.