Police: Wal-Mart Shopper Slaps Crying Child

[goddess_nemesis]

Him stating that he shut the kid up might indicate that he did just that.

The mother wasn't handling the kid all that well considering it was crying.

Two year olds rarely softly sob. They make scenes.

Maybe if we had people more interested in disciplining children we would have every single supermarket and big box retailer filled to the brim with a cacophony of crying, annoying kids.

I've been watching it on CNN. The coverage they have on TV says the guy slapping the child only made the kid cry harder. The kid may have stopped briefly because the girl was stunned by being slapped but resumed her bawling.

I don't know what supermarkets you've been visiting but I rarely see crying, out of control children when I'm shopping. It's annoying when it happens but it's not going to ruin my day.

 

[Deleted member 66627]

I love some of the comments made by people who've never had children, nor probably ever will. 🙄

 

[Cosmo_ac]

Part of me is agreeing the guy shouldn't have touched the kid.

The other part of me...

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[Knot Amewzed]

Part of me is agreeing the guy shouldn't have touched the kid.

The other part of me...

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Classic!

 

[meangry]

Because the art of slapping a child is simple; instill a true negative connotation to misbehavior.

A child can have toys taken away, it can be told it can't have dessert, but it is rare that a child gets a bit of true negative reinforcement. One hit, or the fear of hitting, can get a parent through a rather lean time when a child is testing the boundaries of acceptable behavior.

Children can take it. They aren't these little fragile things people would like to think of them as. Again, he slapped the kid. No damage, just redness. It wasn't like he hauled off and punted the damn thing across the aisle. It wasn't like he made the kid bite curb and throw down a stomp. It's a slap. Maybe multiple slaps. But it's still a slap.

 

[Knot Amewzed]

One hit, or the fear of hitting, can get a parent through a rather lean time when a child is testing the boundaries of acceptable behavior.

Wrong.

A parent must ensure that those boundaries are set prior to letting it get to that point. Physically slapping a child will only facilitate resentment when that child grows old enough to understand.

Besides, this thread is about someone other than that of a parent slapping a child across the face without consent.

 

[AngelOfDarkness]

Children can take it. They aren't these little fragile things people would like to think of them as. Again, he slapped the kid. No damage, just redness. It wasn't like he hauled off and punted the damn thing across the aisle. It wasn't like he made the kid bite curb and throw down a stomp. It's a slap. Maybe multiple slaps. But it's still a slap.

Two issues:
A) It was someone else's child.
B) Slapping a two year old ISN'T going to stop their crying or "teach them a lesson".

I can see where it would be annoying, and the mother could have handled it better (i.e. taking her child out of the store and calming her down), but the man could have exercised better self control. Slapping can cause psychological damage, as well.

 

[goddess_nemesis]

Because the art of slapping a child is simple; instill a true negative connotation to misbehavior.

A child can have toys taken away, it can be told it can't have dessert, but it is rare that a child gets a bit of true negative reinforcement. One hit, or the fear of hitting, can get a parent through a rather lean time when a child is testing the boundaries of acceptable behavior.

Children can take it. They aren't these little fragile things people would like to think of them as. Again, he slapped the kid. No damage, just redness. It wasn't like he hauled off and punted the damn thing across the aisle. It wasn't like he made the kid bite curb and throw down a stomp. It's a slap. Maybe multiple slaps. But it's still a slap.

Ruling with fear is not the right way to handle disciplining children. You don't want your children fearing your touch.

I don't care if the parent had spanked the child on the butt, that's fine. But slapping the child across the face, parent or not, is crossing the line. And this guy had NO RIGHT to slap that child.

 

[Fire_Sprite]

In all seriousness a grown man slapping a two year old can cause some noticeable physical damage. Even if you blame the parent for not properly disciplining the thing, that makes it their fault and not the fault of the child you're hitting. It's freaking annoying but the only reasonable thing to do in that situation is to shut up and deal with it.

...or punt them over the aisle if they're really annoying.

 

[Cosmo_ac]

Ruling with fear is not the right way to handle disciplining children. You don't your children fearing your touch.

I don't care if the parent had spanked the child on the butt, that's fine. But slapping the child across the face, parent or not, is crossing the line. And this guy had NO RIGHT to slap that child.

Not to nit-pick, but isn't this more or less the same thing? In both cases you are striking the child to cause pain to teach/punish them. There are subtle differences, but in essence it seems the same.

 

[meangry]

Ruling with fear is not the right way to handle disciplining children. You don't your children fearing your touch.

I don't care if the parent had spanked the child on the butt, that's fine. But slapping the child across the face, parent or not, is crossing the line. And this guy had NO RIGHT to slap that child.

What does a slap across the face have on a spank? How are either of those called for for you then, she-who-speaks-about-the-resenting touch?

A child isn't going to really differentiate a spank from a slap.

 

[Frowg]

I agree

Sometimes, sometimes, the kid deserves it. But it should really have been the parent that did it.

I agree 100%, shut your kids up, but lock up that rotten old bastard.

 

[BellaRisa]

Lets be clear

Sometimes, sometimes, the kid deserves it. But it should really have been the parent that did it.

A) No 2 yr old deserves to be slapped in the face. Folks, please do not procreate until you understand that. You find a way to calm your child down, remove them from the situation if you need to, but you don't hurt your baby for crying unless you're trying to create a serial killer from scratch.

B) Somebody else slapping one of my babies??? You wouldn't even be able to identify the body from the ashes I left. And since you can't have a trial for a pile of dust I'd save the courts money.

 

[Amnesiac]

I'm conflicted about this mostly because of the tone. I've had to leave stores in the past in order to prevent myself from losing my shit and punch-deathing small children who won't stop screaming in a store...but by my own admission it's a release, not a valid disciplinary action.

Whenever I acted like that as a child, my mother would just pick me up and carry me out of the store and we'd either leave or wait until I got exhausted: no hitting involved and the patrons in the store got some peace. I wonder why the fuck that doesn't happen anymore: are you such a fucking self-obsessed consumer that you can't stop shopping to quiet your little uterus rat outside the store? Be considerate of other people!

However, had I seen that happen I would've beaten the shit out of the old man AND the mother and blamed it all on him. Because I would have blamed HER for not doing anything about her kid's crying and I would've beaten the shit out of HIM because he did it out of advocating a violent method of disciplining children; that and he probably beat his own kids too so he had ass-whuppings + interest coming.

I imagine the police wouldn't know what to do about someone who virtually beats a 61-year-old man to death while screaming a lecture about the link between casual violence and social alienation in contemporary times. But that would be me. And it would be the WTF moment of the year for the internet if someone caught it on their cell phone.

 

[goddess_nemesis]

Not to nit-pick, but isn't this more or less the same thing? In both cases you are striking the child to cause pain to teach/punish them. There are subtle differences, but in essence it seems the same.

You're right in them being more or less the same. To me, slapping a child across the face is crossing the line into abuse. A swat on the butt is seen as a more acceptable form of discipline.

 

[drewskee]

Agreed. A quick once over with his belt would have been sufficient.

Sooooooo wrong. I smiled.

 

[Skipadeedoodah]

How you raise your kids is on you. Don't ever put your hands on someone else's children.

 

[Bugman]

Him stating that he shut the kid up might indicate that he did just that.

The mother wasn't handling the kid all that well considering it was crying.

The point is,this guy had no right to slap a kid he is not responsible for because he was annoyed.

Maybe if we had people more interested in disciplining children we would have every single supermarket and big box retailer filled to the brim with a cacophony of crying, annoying kids.

I don't know what stores you shop at,but its just not that big a problem here.It happens,and its annoying,but it does not justify what this guy did.

 

[poopies]

Parenting would be so much easier if it was socially acceptable for humans to eat their young. If cute little bunnies can do it, why can't we?

 

[Fire_Sprite]

You're right in them being more or less the same. To me, slapping a child across the face is crossing the line into abuse. A swat on the butt is seen as a more acceptable form of discipline.

But it's purely an aesthetic distinction. You're slapping your child either way, a slap to the face just looks worse.

 

[Cosmo_ac]

You're right in them being more or less the same. To me, slapping a child across the face is crossing the line into abuse. A swat on the butt is seen as a more acceptable form of discipline.

Ok, fair enough. 😀

 

[Skipadeedoodah]

But it's purely an aesthetic distinction. You're slapping your child either way, a slap to the face just looks worse.

So, if a friend playfully smacks your ass you'd feel the same as if they playfully smacked your face?

 

[Knot Amewzed]

So, if a friend playfully smacks your ass you'd feel the same as if they playfully smacked your face?

In bondage?

 

[Fire_Sprite]

I'm not friends with people who would playfully do either of those things, but the face would probably hurt more. But if the abuse thing is an issue of pain then its really a matter of force applied instead of location.

 

[Knot Amewzed]

but the face would probably hurt more.

Due to facial nerves and the sensitivity of facial skin, I would have to agree with that.