By Journalist Gabriela Dimova (ORU)
Opening the first legislative session on Thursday morning, November 16th, Representative Hansen (OBU) presented his bill (OBU-501). A bill focused on allowing to trip children who are distributive in restaurants. The penalties follow 1 year of community service. Among the Representatives, there has been a mixture of opinions. Representative Hansen told the body of a personal interaction with a kid at a restaurant. The child was running around and stealing food off his plate. Proudly, Hansen stuck his foot out and tripped the child. This experience was the inspiration behind the bill.
Representative Valgora (OSU) said, “It’s an excellent idea. I personally do not like children.”
Similar to Representative Valgora, Representative Walker (SE) said, “A lot of the opponents of this bill claim that this is a form of child abuse.” They continue, “But I would argue that if the kid is being obnoxious, then it is not actually child abuse; it’s justice!”
In contrast, Representative Wier said, “I think it’s dangerous to set a precedent of allowing us to put our hands on other people’s children.”
With the majority of the House agreeing with Representatives Wier and Valgora, many strongly opposed the bill along the consensus of the possible sought aggression.
In addition, Representative Lokey (OU) said, “I believe the author is condoning too much violence.”
With the split room, 6 amendments were proposed to change the child’s age regulations and to expand from restaurants to public spaces.
Representative Gwinn, author of an amendment, stated, “I want to expand the age limit to also fall under teenagers. We should be able to trip them as well.”
When it came time to vote, the delegation passed the bill to a standing of 34-17 votes, now permitting adults to trip a child who is being distributed in restaurants.