University of Michigan

Every family enjoys its stories. Several years ago, mine had its “Home Alone” moment. My brother, his wife and their two children were visiting my parents in New Jersey. They agreed to head out to dinner – in two cars – to a restaurant about 45 minutes away.

There may be a relationship between the spanking of children, the type of neighborhood the children live in and the likelihood of a report of abuse or neglect to Child Protective Services (CPS), according to a new study published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect.

I keep a bumper sticker on the shelf in my office that reads: “It’s NEVER OK to HIT A CHILD.” A few weeks ago, a colleague ­– a wonderful, kind woman with an Ivy League education who is the mother of three boys – was in my office.