The caning of convicted graffiti criminal Michael Fay in Singapore was widely approved in the United States and has led to a renewed interest in corporal punishment, both in the public schools and in our juvenile justice system.

   California Assemblyman Mickey Conroy proposed a law which would permit the public spanking of minors with an "18-inch long, 3-quarter-inch thick, hardwood paddle" for offenses similar to Fay's. Conroy sees much popular support for corporal punishment. "I think we are witnessing a backlash against the liberal philosophy of coddling the criminal," he said.

   This backlash, no pun intended, comes as no surprise to those of us appalled by the evils wrought by permissiveness: the high crime rate, the epidemic of unmarried pregnancy, and the horror of rampant sexually transmitted disease. While a few liberal whiners concern themselves with "psychological trauma," the pro-spanking side points out that discipline today is better than having another criminal, bum, or welfare mother tomorrow.

   Will the return of the literal, wooden "board of education" prevent teenagers from going down the wrong path as adults? It may indeed. Many youths complain about the seeming irrelevancy of a high school education, especially those who are not college-bound. Teenagers frequently lust for vocational training because they want to graduate from high school as adults with marketable skills.

   The Bondage & Discipline or Sadism & Masochism scene is a growing industry with a proliferation of books, magazines, videos, and clubs - uh, I mean assoc… er, uh-organizations devoted to it.

   Unlike much of the sex industry, work in this area is perfectly legal. Indeed, a professional dominatrix was acquitted of prostitution charges when she testified that her services included "foot-licking, spanking, domination and submission" but that she eschewed sexual intercourse.

   Today's "bad kids" may, if regularly and rigorously spanked, develop a heightened pain tolerance that will be helpful should they choose to enter an S&M or B&D-related occupation. Some might claim that this is an argument against employing corporal punishment. In an internet discussion, Christopher Dugan said, "I don't think that people who like to erotically spank each other are evil. But I do think that there is something very wrong with a discipline technique which causes even a small minority of children subjected to it to develop a lifelong erotic obsession around the subject."

   However, that position assumes that spanking eroticism is, at least to some degree, a bad thing. However, neither sexual masochism nor sexual sadism are classified as psychiatric disorders by the American Psychiatric Association unless they "cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning." Furthermore, while traditional morality condemns non-marital intercourse, "Thou shalt not spank for fun or profit" is nowhere to be found in any scripture of which I am aware.

   Teachers, principals, and others will surely rejoice when former students testify that they owe a successful, red-bottomed career to the swats they received as youngsters.