When lawmakers claim they want to address the problem of domestic violence, i.e, wife beating by husbands, but remain silent about educator violence, i.e, pupil beating by teachers, can they be taken seriously? We must remember that teachers who punish schoolboys by smacking them on the buttocks with a stick are preparing them to become abusive husbands. And similarly-mistreated girls are learning to become submissive wives.

As trained, certified experts, teachers represent a standard for the general community – a standard that is etched into the public mind (for good or for ill) beginning in the earliest years. Conveniently substituting the word "discipline" for "violence" doesn't change the substance of the matter; and making one's 18th birthday the magic moment for achieving equal protection under the law against assault and battery is, to say the least, arbitrary and unreasonable.

Credit goes to those reform-minded legislators who are leading the crusade against domestic violence. More power to them. But somebody should remind them that real reform can only begin after they've honestly examined the root of the problem. Anything short of that is self-deception.

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See releated:
Nashville trying to reduce domestic violence, By The Associated Press, The Daily Herald, May 21, 2012