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Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment [W:59]

Is this Child cruelty or just good discipline?


  • Total voters
    48
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

I can see my comment went right over your head Con. But then again I'm not surprised.

Sure, you have no point. Just crying about some kid that dad set straight.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

Sure, you have no point. Just crying about some kid that dad set straight.

So says the conservative hiding behind the lean of other. Your opinion is worthless to me. Glad the kid was saved.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

Personally, I don't believe the punishment is productive, but that's just me. Secondly, I see it's now called "child cruelty" - what happened to child abuse? Basically, from where I come from, it impossible to raise a respectful, responsible, decent child without being "cruel" to them in many ways. But that's not abuse. I agree with Gipper, judges who make those convicted of crimes stand on corners with signs announcing their crimes and subjecting them to ridicule from complete strangers are far more "cruel" than this man. And considering the state of "fatherless" children in black communities in America, I'd be on the street corner giving this caring father a medal for trying to teach his son responsibility.

I have a feeling this charge will be dropped by the district attorney involved - there is no chance of a conviction and it just makes them look foolish to pursue it.

Unfortunately the CPS will still be involved. The nightmare is just beginning.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

So says the conservative hiding behind the lean of other. Your opinion is worthless to me. Glad the kid was saved.
Not trying to be of value to worthless people like you.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

I bet you had to wrestle a bear for your schoolbooks too.

Your parents never woke you up at O'dark thirty in the morning?
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

With your train of thought, shouldn't the mother also be punished for merely allowing the father to punish the child?

So says the conservative hiding behind the lean of other. Your opinion is worthless to me. Glad the kid was saved.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

I would like some more information, but I also understand the police here. This is too much, especially given what he was said to be punished for (from what information we are being given).

First, assuming that this was going on for large portions of the day, then how often did the teen get a break? It wasn't but a year or two ago that the little girl died because her stepmother/grandmother had her running laps around the house for a few hours at a time. Plus, this was not a large kid. A 16 year old boy who is only 4'3" tall, unless overweight, is not going to weigh that much (that is over a foot shorter than I was at that age). (The ideal weight for someone at guy at 4 1/2 feet tall is only about 80lbs.)

Second, as others have pointed out, there are much more appropriate punishments. First of all, take away whatever device(s) he is using to "watch videos" on. Not that hard. Even cell phones can have their internet disabled. Second, if he wasn't doing his chores at all, then how in the heck did the father get him to do this pointless task? That doesn't make any sense. Maybe it was more along the lines of the kid wasn't doing the chores when exactly the father wanted them done. Which, is certainly cause for punishment, but not like this.

Seems like some info is missing here, but it certainly sounds like the punishment went too far. I would say some family counseling is definitely called for as punishment. I don't think jail time would be right though.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

Moderator's Warning:
I suggest people start sticking to discussing the topic, not each other
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

I bet you had to wrestle a bear for your schoolbooks too.

Interesting deflection. Noticed that you couldn't answer the question.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

Child cruelty or just some good old fashioned discipline?? If you think the former, what 'punishment' do you approve of?


Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment


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I see nothing wrong with it. I have done lots of road marches in the military with loaded ruck sacks that weighed more than 25 pounds,gear and I had to carry a 249 S.A.W(at least 17 pounds with no ammo in it). 25 pounds is nothing.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

There are many punishments that can be done that don't involve physical punishments like this. Grounding, extra chores, etc.

Luckily the police diagree with YOU.

Could you please answer one simple question for us:
What harm was done to the kid?

Child abuse is when a child is caused to come to harm, so could you please point out what harm was done.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

This 'punishment' is less than what he might face in a juvenile 'Boot Camp' and there is no indication the kid was psychically harmed. Given the kids current path, its not unreasonable to assume that is where he was headed (and frankly, until he is 18 the parents could put him in a camp themselves).

"The notion of developing boot camps for juvenile offenders evolved as the juvenile system faced the same pressures as the adult system -- an increasingly expensive and overburdened prison system, high rates of recidivism, public concern for safety, and a increasing emphasis on punishment over rehabilitation. Juveniles in custody for delinquent offenses increased 35% from 1978 to 1989, a period when the youth population of the United States declined by 11%.

In this context, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in the US Justice Department began a demonstration program to examine the feasibility, appropriateness, and promise of the boot camp model for juvenile offenders. It selected three sites to explore whether boot camp programs for adult offenders could be adapted for male juvenile offenders: Cleveland, Ohio; Mobile, Alabama; and Denver, Colorado.

OJJDP found significant improvement in test scores for reading, spelling, math, and language for the boot camp participants. The study also found improvement in physical fitness, attitudes, and values. The attitudes and values included: respect for authority, self- discipline and control, responsibility, integrity, teamwork, personal appearance and bearing, and social behavior and work ethic. But, since there was no control group the study could not conclude boot camp was better than other institutional confinement in these areas."

So...kudos to the guy for caring enough to try to alter his kids mindset. I dont know...maybe excessive. Abusive? Probably not.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

I would like some more information, but I also understand the police here. This is too much, especially given what he was said to be punished for (from what information we are being given).

First, assuming that this was going on for large portions of the day, then how often did the teen get a break? It wasn't but a year or two ago that the little girl died because her stepmother/grandmother had her running laps around the house for a few hours at a time. Plus, this was not a large kid. A 16 year old boy who is only 4'3" tall, unless overweight, is not going to weigh that much (that is over a foot shorter than I was at that age). (The ideal weight for someone at guy at 4 1/2 feet tall is only about 80lbs.)

Second, as others have pointed out, there are much more appropriate punishments. First of all, take away whatever device(s) he is using to "watch videos" on. Not that hard. Even cell phones can have their internet disabled. Second, if he wasn't doing his chores at all, then how in the heck did the father get him to do this pointless task? That doesn't make any sense. Maybe it was more along the lines of the kid wasn't doing the chores when exactly the father wanted them done. Which, is certainly cause for punishment, but not like this.

Seems like some info is missing here, but it certainly sounds like the punishment went too far. I would say some family counseling is definitely called for as punishment. I don't think jail time would be right though.

Punishment????? For what??? Unless there is something else, there is nothing these parents did that was excessive.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

I personally think it's a little excessive for what the kid did but there isn't much information except the kid was watching too many videos and not doing homework or chores. No word on whether any of the devices playing the videos were taken away or if the father had first done other disciplinary actions so it's hard to say whether this was the result of the kid breaking the rules repeatedly or not.

Well said!!! This one of those stories where only one side is being presented. Before ANYONE judges this father's actions, we need to see the whole picture. If this was just a matter of the kid missing a homework assignment, forgetting to take out the trash one week and exceeding his quota of TV watching by 30 minutes, I'd call it excessive (but not criminal). If this was a case of the kid having six weeks of homework piled up, hadn't done one single chore in six weeks and had planted his lazy butt in front of the TV 8 hours a day, then good on the father. My guess is that the reality is somewhere in-between.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

I haven't yet seen any indication the child was physically harmed by this. In fact, it sounds like what we used to do daily for fun on our own as kids (we used to build the most amazing forts).

It would be like making a couple of kids dig a hole 20' wide and 3' deep in a muddy creek and then making them pack in sticks and rocks for 100s of yards to pile on to make the hole deeper. That was what my brother and I did AFTER we did our chores and homework. We had the best "swimming hole" (couldn't really swim in it, but it was better than nothing) around and we had a blast building it.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

It would be like making a couple of kids dig a hole 20' wide and 3' deep in a muddy creek and then making them pack in sticks and rocks for 100s of yards to pile on to make the hole deeper. That was what my brother and I did AFTER we did our chores and homework. We had the best "swimming hole" (couldn't really swim in it, but it was better than nothing) around and we had a blast building it.
Yea, but you had to get off the couch to do it.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

OMG! Not 'as early as 8 am in the morning!'

Oh the horror!
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

It wouldnt be my primary style of discipline but all kids are different. And we dont know the type of relationship 16 yr old and dad have. It could be very good.

I dont see it as abusive. Hell, I just had a 15 and half yr old out here digging up a water line with his dad. He works with his dad on many contracting projects. (He's homeschooled).

Great kid, good attitude, hard worker.
 
Child cruelty or just some good old fashioned discipline?? If you think the former, what 'punishment' do you approve of?


Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment


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Hell I think my book bag was that heavy..

So long as the child was allowed to carry it in an ergonomically sound way I don't see the need for the police to be involved as there would be little risk of injury.

It's an idiotic method of punishment though. If I were a teen something like that would have only made me pissed off and more determined to have my way.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

Punishment????? For what??? Unless there is something else, there is nothing these parents did that was excessive.

It was excessive. Given what he was being punished for (the father stated it) and the actual punishment, that was excessive punishment. That punishment would not be given to most military personnel now for the given offense (unless they were possibly in prison already).
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

The only thing that bothers me is that he was woken up at 3am to do this. This is not acceptable at all. A growing child/teen needs his sleep for many various documented reasons. Unless he went to bed at 8pm, this is not an appropriate time to get a kid out of bed. The rest of the punishment, I have zero problems with. A teen boy, even a small one, is generally healthy enough to hike a few miles a day and carry a few pounds around. I mean seriously, 23 lbs? That's nothing.
 
Re: Father faces child cruelty charges for teen's punishment..

It's nice to see a black father involved in his child's life too.

Yeah, that's not racist.
 
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