Community Chat

[Tinkrbl44]

I only saw a brief part of the interview with the mother, but my first reaction is that she is uneducated and totally inept as a mother.

Perhaps the kid would learn how to behave IF the mother knew what the heck she was doing.   Since it's still legal, I that that not only should the kid been paddled, but the mother as well!   AND she should have been ordered to take some parenting lessons .... she is totally clueless.

[Isobel Archer]

It's sad that the news media panders to parents like this.  The child was being paddled - not beaten.  Apparently it is within the law for the school to do this.  So if the news folks don't like paddling - do a feature on changing the law, but don't give mothers like this their 5 minutes of fame.

[riley1]

The parent gave permission then "pretended" to text while she was actually videotaping the incident - oh, and big surprise she hired a lawyer!! I'm sure she is seeing $$$$$$ in her future. She's also been jailed on truancy charges for this child.

[sunala]

This was sickening. I never should have watched this barbaric ritual that is actually legal in our country. I'm not saying this little boy is an angel, and if he did the things they said he did, he obviously deserves some form of punishment, but hitting a little boy like that made me ill. The two adult women trying to find his tiny tushy with a slab of wood and get him to stop wiggling so they can hit him made my stomach turn. It reminded me of a child at the doctor's office who is going to get a shot, and it takes a few people to keep him still.

The mother is probably an ill-educated moron. She said she couldn't help him because she was texting. Huh? Isn't a mother the one person a child is supposed to trust? This boy is going to be a bigger problem as he gets older. I wish I could take him in my arms and tell him everything is going to be okay.

I'm not exaggerating when I say I feel like I'm going to throw up.

[PamfromCT]

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@maestra wrote:

The mother was already brought up on Truancy charges in regard to the child; he was hitting and spitting in school.

I dont condone paddling, nor should other children and teachers be sujected to this child's physical abuse such as hitting and spitting.

School should be a safe place for everyone; acting out children should be removed from the classroom by administration (that's why they earn the big bucks) and followed up by parental contact and social services/authorities ( this case definetely qualifies for that).

For the record, I only swatted my own child 2x in her life and it was 1 swat on the buttocks.

For little ones I prefer the time out chair or space.

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@maestra, I completely agree with your post.  In fact, you brought out a vital point that I had not mentioned in my post.  That is that a Social Services agency should get involved in this issue, as mother has been neglectful in sending her child to school, and the child has obviously not been taught rules for civil behavior.  If there are other children in this family, I would be curious to see if they also had behavioral issues.

While more extreme than this issue, as young people we lived next door to a family with a son who had extreme behavioral issues.  He was 5 years old and would attack neighborhood children for no reason.  Not a pretty picture, and mother would excuse his behavior saying he was frustrated.  He was banned from riding the school bus once he started school.  It was a big incentive for us to move, which turned out to be positive in many ways.  Later on, after we had moved, I heard this child's parents were divorcing, due to father's violence to mother.  what a sorry situation.

[riley1]

@sunala - the mother wasn't texting, she was videotaping the entire thing - which she agreed to! Oh, then she went on to do interviews and yup, hired a lawyer! She's the start of the problem in this child's life.

[ritasNo1Fan]

They got the wrong buttt!  

[Sister Golden Hair]

Children that grow up in a dysfunctional family will act out in ways of wanting attention.

They don't get this attention at home unless they are bad.

Or they don't get any attention at all.

This leads to social and emotional issues.

The parent or parents most of the time have also been raised without love.

[nevergivesup]

Thank you for your thoughtful response. There is a tendency today to want to reduce complex issues into simplistic terms. Many children today are born into chaotic, dysfunctional environments with parents who lack the most basic, rudimentary parenting skills. The children never see mature, respectful relationships. They are exposed to trash on tv, violent boyfriends, no proper nutrition, inadequate sleep, have never had an adult listen to them or read to them etc.  I could go on and on.

Then we put them in schools and expect them to be properly socialized and when they act out they are labeled little brats who just need three adults to tackle them and hold them down so the first role model they have ever had can strike them with a big wooden board . Yeah, that will fix everything.

There is another thread on Among Friends for those interested.