Woman Charged With Domestic Assault Because Of How She Punished A Teen
From the archive. This post was first published on the original Green Eggs and Moms blog and is kept here as it was.
A woman from Minnesota was convicted of domestic assault, among other things, because of how she chose to discipline her boyfriend’s 13 year-old daughter.
To make things worse, the unfortunate teen’s father was also charged since he allowed the punishment to take place.
What did these “parents” do to face criminal charges?
According to a report from Woodbury Bulletin, the woman instructed the 13-year old to kneel on the floor while holding a chair above her head, with fully extended arms. When the teen began to tire and failed to keep her arms straight, she was repeatedly hit with a wooden spoon.
She suffered bruises on her arms and legs.
But that’s not all.
A post from Kare 11 said that the day after the kneeling punishment took place:
…the woman wrote “My name is [the teen's name] and I am a thief on the front of a shirt and “I have been stealing my dad’s girlfriend’s clothes…I am a thief” on the back of the shirt.
The 13-year old was made to wear the shirt in school.
Do you think you’ll resort to this form of punishment? Ever?
I get it.
Sometimes it’s frustrating to get kids to listen (which is why I wrote about this easy 1-step technique you can use so children are more compliant), and it becomes even more frustrating when “regular” discipline efforts – timeouts, grounding, removing of privileges – seem futile.
But it’s still heart-breaking to hear of such things (the news story above); although I can’t say that I am completely shocked.
Having worked in Human Resource (HR) and been interested in psychology for years, I’ve come to understand a sad truth:
People – though not all – tend to think there is a one-size-fits all solution to parenting. Which is a false assumption.
What solution is this? Corporal punishment, which in this story includes humiliation.
This tag speaketh the truth as there is no one-size-fits-all solution to parenting!
In HR, strategies used to train and discipline employees are created and applied with a lot of thought and sensitivity. Training methods consider all learning types: auditory, visual and kinesthetics / tactile; while discipline involves several warnings, both oral and written, before sanctions are carried out.
These are methods used an adults: grown men and women.
But when it comes to child discipline, “thought and sensitivity” seem to be forgotten.
It’s a bit odd, don’t you think? That we’re more lenient with adults who have more developed logic and reasoning skills, but are harsher with children, who have YET to develop the same skills.
What do you think about all this: The parents, teen and child discipline methods these days? Leave a comment below.
Photos: first, second | Sources: Woodbury Bulletin, Kare 11