Many French parents still feel that if you spare the rod,you spoil the child,and that a swat on the rear every now and again does no lasting damage. But now the state is stepping in.A parliamentarian from the ruling conservative UMP party is trying to pass a law making the corporal punishment of children illegal,as it is in Germany and many other EU member states. The Enlightenment might have had its roots in France,but when it comes to raising children,many parents seem to prefer a strict line. Even Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking books were censored for many years,because the red-haired protagonist was a little too anarchistic for French taste. The planned ban on corporal punishment still hasn't gained wide acceptance,because many people in France think it goes too far.