Thursday, May 17, 2007

New Zealand Outlaws Spanking

Yesterday the New Zealand Parliament voted against parents when they chose to make spanking illegal.



http://familyintegrity.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

AB 755 Prohibition of Spanking - Newsflash

I am passing on this newsflash issued by CFPA and HSLDA.


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JOINT LEGISLATIVE NEWSFLASH UPDATE – April 24, 2007

From: Roy Hanson’s Child and Family Protection Association and HSLDA

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Bill: AB 755 – Prohibition of Spanking
Author: Assembly Member Sally Lieber
Position: Strongly Oppose
Status: In Assembly
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This is an UPDATE to our previous, April 11, 2007, Action Alert regarding Assembly Member Sally Lieber's "Prohibition of Spanking" bill, AB 755.

AB 755 continues to move through the Legislature. AB 755 was amended and passed by the Assembly Public Safety Committee on April 17th. AB 755 is still a very dangerous bill for parents throughout California.

AB 755 would have the practical effect of making a non-injurious spanking with an object such as a ruler, folded newspaper, paddle, etc. illegal. After being arrested, charged, and tried in a criminal court, parents could receive up to one year in jail and lose custody of their children.

We updated our "AB 755 - Action Alert" and our 4-page backgrounder, "AB 755 – Updated Alert Supplement" on April 24, 2007. Both the Updated Alert and the Updated Alert Supplement are posted at http://www.childandfamilyprotection.org and http://www.hslda.org.

These two documents are designed to help every concerned parent: 1) to understand this bill and its implications for every family in California and the nation, and 2) to be able to present the most effective reasons why such a bill should not be passed by the Legislature.

AB 755 is an incremental step toward the outlawing of all spanking, which the author has publicly stated is her ultimate goal.

We will be issuing another Action Alert by e-mail on AB 755 within the next several weeks, just before AB 755 is sent to the Assembly Floor for a full vote by every Assembly Member. We are continuing to monitor AB 755 daily, as we do with all legislation.
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Permission given to reprint or forward this Newsflash unaltered to your friends, church, school, and group.

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Roy Hanson's HELP Tree

Child and Family Protection Association

P.O. Box 730

Lincoln, CA 95648-0730

Fax: (916) 415-9470



HELP Tree Director

P.O. Box 100

Somerset, CA 95684-0100

Fax: (530) 622-4717



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The purpose of this communication is to present information and express our position on the issues addressed. We encourage you to research this for yourself and come to your own conclusions. Regardless of your position, we strongly urge you to exercise your constitutional right to express your position to your elected representatives. We have included an example of how we have expressed our position.

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DISCLAIMER: We are not responsible for the accuracy of copies printed, forwarded, or sent by any party other than directly from Child and Family Protection Association.

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SB 392 Seeks To Lower Compulsory Education Age In Oregon

I am posting this action alert I received from OCEANetwork of Oregon.


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OCEANetwork Alert and Information Email Service

www.OCEANetwork.org mail@OCEANetwork.org
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Serving the needs and protecting the rights
of home educators since 1986
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"Home education is private education."
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================ OCEANetwork Political Action Alert ================

Subject: The situation has changed on SB 392

Summary:
We have reason to believe that some members of the House Subcommittee on Education Innovation have real concerns about lowering the compulsory attendance age, enough members to maybe kill the bill. So that is what we are going to try for.

Action:
Pray. E-mail the Subcommittee again. Come to the hearing.

Full alert:
Please pray.
Email the Subcommittee members asking them to kill SB 392A because it would hurt 6-year-olds who are not mature enough for formal education. If you are a constituent of one of the members, please call them (letting them know you live in their district). If you have written or called before, you need to do it again with your new message – do not pass SB 392. Use your own words, be brief, and be polite.
If you can, please be there at the hearing 1 p.m., Thursday, May 3, Hearing Room D. Numbers will count.
Thank you for spending more time on this issue. We are hopeful that we will be able to kill this bill in committee.
Rodger Williams
OCEANetwork Legislative Coordinator



Background:
House Education Innovation Subcommittee Members:
Note: You can find out who your Representative is at http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
Betty Komp (D), Chair
rep.bettykomp@state.or.us
503-986-1422
House District 22 (I-5 from Woodburn to north Salem)
District map: http://www.leg.state.or.us/komp/hd22.jpg
Karen Minnis (R), Vice-Chair
rep.karenminnis@state.or.us
503-986-1449
House District 49 (Fairview)
District map: http://www.leg.state.or.us/minnis/hd49.jpg
(Rep. Minnis is a strong supporter of home education.)
Arnie Roblan (D), Vice-Chair
rep.arnieroblan@state.or.us
503-986-1409
House District 9 (Coos Bay to Florence)
District map: http://www.leg.state.or.us/roblan/hd09.jpg
Peter Buckley (D) (Chair of the House Education Committee)
rep.peterbuckley@state.or.us
503-986-1405
House District 5 (Phoenix, Talent, Ashland)
District map: http://www.leg.state.or.us/buckley/hd05.jpg
Ben Cannon (D)
rep.bencannon@state.or.us
503-986-1446
House District 46 (Portland, eastside, from I-84 to south of Highway 26, between 48th & I-205)
District map: http://www.leg.state.or.us/cannon/hd46.jpg
John H Dallum (R)
rep.johndallum@state.or.us
503-986-1459
House District 59 (Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, Jefferson & Wheeler counties)
District map: http://www.leg.state.or.us/dallum/hd59.jpg
(Rep. Dallum is a strong supporter of home education.)
Gene Whisnant (R)
rep.genewhisnant@state.or.us
503-986-1453
House District 53 (Deschutes county, excluding Bend)
District map: http://www.leg.state.or.us/whisnant/hd53.jpg
(Rep. Whisnant is a strong supporter of home education.)
SB 329 has been introduced at the request of the Oregon Department of Education and is likely part of the bigger movement across the country to lower the compulsory attendance age.


Some of the problems with lowering the compulsory attendance are:


- Lowering the compulsory attendance age from 7 to 6 would subject Oregon home educators to the requirements of the homeschool laws one year earlier. Homeschool parents would be required to submit the notice of intent to their local ESD one year earlier than they do now.


- Additionally, the Oregon Department of Education could possibly change the definition of when the "first year" begins for testing purposes from 7 on September 1 to 6 on September 1, effectively requiring parents to test in grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 a year earlier than they do now. (You do not need to share this reason with your legislators.)


- Many education experts have concluded that beginning a child's formal education too early may actually result in burnout and poor scholastic performance later.


- Lowering the compulsory attendance age erodes the authority of parents who are in the best position to determine when their child's formal education should begin.


- It would restrict parents' freedom to decide if their children are ready for school.


- Another significant impact of expanding the compulsory attendance age would be an inevitable tax increase to pay for more classroom space and teachers to accommodate the additional students compelled to attend public schools.











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If you know an Oregon home educating friend who would be interested in this
topic, please pass this message along.

You can subscribe directly to the free OCEANetwork Alert and Information E-mail
Service at http://www.oceanetwork.org/membership/signup.cfm.