Jury says smacking child was an assault

[KiwiCoromandel]

Jury says smacking child was an assault

19 March 2005

By LYN HUMPHREYS

A New Plymouth jury took four hours to decide a father was guilty of assaulting his child, rejecting controversial laws which allow parents to use reasonable force when disciplining.

Section 59 of the Crimes Act was used as a defence during the two-day trial after Pieter Donselaar (33), bar worker, admitted he spanked his four-year-old son on the backside twice for "pooing his pants".

The law allows a parent to smack a child provided the force is reasonable and used honestly for correction.

Outside court, Donselaar said the decision "sucks".

The decision would lead to many more parents being charged with assaulting their children, he said.

"Everyone could be going up on smacking offences after this."

Read more.......

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3222781a10,00.html

[Cerebral_Assassin]

Okay, I can't see spanking a child just because he/she shit his/her pants.

BUT! the courts have slowly taken discipline out of the home and that's why todays children are the monsters they are. When I was growing up my parents busted my ass when I deserved it and it was not abuse. I'm sure a few of you here will agree with me and a few will not. We all have our views and opinions on discipline. I do not believe in hitting a child unless it's absolutely necessary and then it should only be a spanking on the behind and not a wallop upside the head. Today's "leaders" forget they were once children and were disciplined when they done wrong, yes there are abusive parents out there and they should fry them s.o.b.'s when they actually "beat" a child. There is a difference between abuse and discipline, you know and I know it. Heck, I turned out pretty good and I got my fair share of butt spankings when I was growing up.........so as the saying goes, "Spare The Rod and Spoil The Child".

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

My question is whether there was still poop in the pants when the kid got the spanking.

[DudeAsInCool]

My question is whether there was still poop in the pants when the kid got the spanking.

Either way, it's pretty shitty

[KiwiCoromandel]

Okay, I can't see spanking a child just because he/she shit his/her pants.

BUT! the courts have slowly taken discipline out of the home and that's why todays children are the monsters they are. When I was growing up my parents busted my ass when I deserved it and it was not abuse. I'm sure a few of you here will agree with me and a few will not. We all have our views and opinions on discipline. I do not believe in hitting a child unless it's absolutely necessary and then it should only be a spanking on the behind and not a wallop upside the head. Today's "leaders" forget they were once children and were disciplined when they done wrong, yes there are abusive parents out there and they should fry them s.o.b.'s when they actually "beat" a child. There is a difference between abuse and discipline, you know and I know it. Heck, I turned out pretty good and I got my fair share of butt spankings when I was growing up.........so as the saying goes, "Spare The Rod and Spoil The Child".

well said....i totally agree with you...they are taking the power away from parents and you`d have to ask yourself why......to me it just seems to be another removal of barriers and boundaries........with the bottom line being the childs right to make his/her own decisions on buying stuff and consumption without the parents saying "NO, you can`t have a pair of 700 dollar nikes "......" what...no nikes dad ?"..." well you old fart, now i`m going to sue you for denying my rights as an individual "....conspiracy theory i hear you say.....we`ll see..... <_>

[Redneck4sure]

My dad used to beat the shit out of us. It worked. I used the same method on my son. It worked. I talked to him like a little man, explain the rules and enforced them. I spanked him very seldom but some of them were something to behold. I see people yelling and spanking their kids constantly but get little results. Enforce the rules consistently and make the spankings memorable and voila, few spankings are needed.

[Shawn]

I'll give a single slap on the rear if the kids are behaving in a manner that they know they aren't supposed to. I'm right with you on the idea of disciple vs. abuse Cerebral Assassin.

Incidentally, one of the constitutional profs at my school was one of the counsels in Canada's recent charter challenge to spanking. Unless I have my wires crossed, I believe he was advocating the position that spanking is abuse.

[slum_goddess]

My dad used to beat the shit out of us.  It worked.

my mother used to beat the shit out of my sister and i. it dint work. w/o going into too much detail, she raised one cynical, sarcastic, fuck-the-rules, low-achieving outlaw-type (me) and one high-achieving, cynical, sarcastic, law abiding yuppie-type (my sister). if this happened in recent years, she would prolly be in prison for child abuse (she laughs when we tell her this). my sister and i are both very much against any form of corporal punishment for children. i love my mom but don't respect her but my sister and she are best friends...go figure.

[Redneck4sure]

SG, you are a slow learner and need more spankings. Come here!

[slum_goddess]

'you can't catch me, oh baby, you can't catch me, cause when you get too close, i'll be gone like a cooooooool breeze.' nyah. :taskmaster:

[DudeAsInCool]

No one ever laid a hand on me. In fact, we didnt have any rules in our house and the kids all ended up with post-graduate degrees... Permissiveness works

[slum_goddess]

*sigh* since i was like 18 or so, i've tortured myself wondering how i would've turned out if my mom had been any different. that was when i first visited chris stein (blondie) at his parents' house--his mom was so fucking cool; she was the first parent to smoke weed w/us. *sigh sigh sigh*

[Redneck4sure]

Dude, now I see what is wrong with you. Nobody ever beat the liberal bullshit out of you.

SG, you are probably right. In my condition about the only thing I catch is a cold. :wha':

Edited March 20, 2005 by Redneck4sure

[moodyblue]

I agree w/you CA....

I got a spanking once, I don't even remember what I did, and that was all it took. My brother on the other hand....he grew up without a father figure around (he was nine when our father passed away, I was 13).....my mother had no control over him when he got older....I sure smacked him around when we were kids!!