PENNSYLVANIA
WITF
Written by Mary Wilson, Capitol Bureau Chief | Jun 20, 2013
A state House proposal to make it easier for some to report suspected child abuse is headed to the Senate, though concerns voiced before a final vote suggest some misgivings about legislating a solution to problems of child abuse – that doing so could interfere with parents who discipline their kids with a smack.
One proposal passed by the House Thursday would, in part, allow people who are required by law to report suspected child abuse (like teachers), to do so by e-mail. It would also require people who must report suspected child abuse to go to the state, not just to their superiors.
“You heard from some folks who were very concerned because they are people who – I’ll say practice – but make use of, in their raising of their children, corporal punishment,” said Rep. Kathy Watson (R-Bucks). “What everybody might say, spanking.”
Rep. Tim Krieger (R-Westmoreland) cast one of the few votes against the proposal. “Not for one minute [do I] think that we need to give child abusers a break here, but there’s a line here that we have to be very careful of,” he said.
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