i the owner of a shop taped or smacked your child in the hand for not doing as told what would you do?

Question

during an outisng to hobart i went to a printing place for photos to try and get some photos from my mobile printed i needed help so hubby was helping me while my kids were waching my autistic son touching another machine as they always do adn the owner told him to stop it afcourse he never listened and when he came around again he smacked him on the hand ,we walked out angry and went staright to the police to have him charged ,we got a call from the CIB telling us the guy said he just did not want to ahve his machine ruined ,we explain all he had to do was tell us to move our son we could ahve done so smacking was not nessesary,the cop then told us he might not get charged cause the judge would say we are wasting his time .should he get away with smacking a child he dont know ,what happen to the law that says parents cant samck kids ,teachers cant smack kids but yet starngers can?what would you do?what are your feeling in this ?a voice is needed for kids right might as well be me!

to those who thought i was a bad parent,WRONG! my son wasent doing nothing wrong he wasent jumping ,running he was sitting quietly touching the screen,both me and dad were standing in arms length,dad told him not to touch but he did it anyway not becasue he was being rude but as i tried to explain he has a babys brain ,he wasent in danger and there was no one else in the store.the ad on television for those machines actually show a child his age touching it thats why he does it .where we live everyone recognises him and they dont mind having kids touch the screen ,this was the first time we went to the city,and this man could ahve easily asked us to move him regardless he had no right.iam a great parent and my son is always well behaved,even with his desability he is popular at school and very polite.i only tell my kids off if they are doing something wrong i had no reason to say nothing , thanks for everyone elses support parenting is hard work we dont need assholes to ruin it .

Answer 1

THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS!!! I would call the news, bill o'rielly, and any other public fugure to bring this to the general public! then, there is no way a judge can say you are wasting his time. people need to know they CAN NOT get away with hitting, or even touching your child!! take it to the public and i'm sure a vast majority wll agree with you!

Answer 2

Actually it is not against to law the smack your child on the hand as long as you dont leave a bruise.

The man had no call to do what he did, he should have gotten your help. I do agree, unfortunately, the cops are probably right, the judge would probably not think this worthy of a court case.

I think that is wrong and I think that the man should have a fine or something to that affect. I think you did the right thing in going to the police, I just wished they would have listened to you better.

I have an Autistic son, had he smacked him, I would have been the one with a court case, because you better have a darn good reason for what you just did. I have worked long and hard to train him and I don't need no person coming up to him and smacking him when I am standing right there. It would not have set well with my son either and he may have thought he was having problems with him touching the machine, well you should see the damage he would do if someone besides my husband or myself gave him correction.

I know I am not much help here, but I had to say that tid bit, it just chaps me to no end when I find that someone took it open themselves to give the correction that my husband and I are only alloud to give in extreme cases. Sorry I was just putting myself in your shoes.

Answer 3

My absolute gut reaction as a human and as a parent is an absolute "No Way!"
I fully understand that he did not want any harm done to anything in his store and he has a perfect right to that feeling. I also feel that it is absolutely your responsibility to monitor your kids at all times and if their behavior is not acceptable, then you leave the stoe and, unfortunately, your task does not get done.
However, the owner had several much more reasonable options to pursue. He could have asked what he could do to speed things up for you, he could have offered to give your kids some candy if it was OK with you, etc. He should have called it to YOUR attention, instead of trying to deal with the kids. He should have said to the adults in this situation, that if the kids were not monitored in a more acceptable fashion, then he would have to ask one adult to take them outside while you finished up your task.
His smacking your child on the hand is not an option - really, society cannot give "the green light" for a total stranger to physically discipline your children in public without your request for them to do so. Whether it was a smack on the hand or just a tap, it is something that has obviously made you very uncomfortable and should be treated fairly. An adult in this situation would be just as uncomfortable if the owner smacked his hand for using the machine improperly, so why is it that we should feel any less about the fact that this was a child (in my opinion, this fact supports elevated concern).
In earlier times the mentality was more geared to whole communities raising kids, but that's just not the way it is today and if I were you I would take every available route to get this publicized.
I am so sorry this happened to you.

Answer 4

It is wrong he did it but if you heard him ask your son to stop touching it why did you not get him too? Maybe the owner felt this was enough to get you to stop him and took it into his own hands. I am not saying that he was right to do what he did but you imagine the amout of kids that come into his store playing with the machines and break them. Next time don't let your son do this and there won't be a problem. And the police are right , the judge would probably toss the case but it will definatly make the store owner think twice about smacking someone again. If you feel justice must be served why not contact the local paper and get a story done on it

Answer 5

First of all, I'm going to say that's horrible. Your son being autistic, he probably didn't know he was doing anything wrong.

However, the guy who smacked your son, didn't really give him child abuse. It was a smack on the hand. It shouldn't have happened, but there's probably not anything you can do about it. If he beat your son and left marks and bruises, the police would probably take it more seriously. It's just how the world is. There are more horrible things.

You can get a lawyer, maybe try to get the guy in trouble, and maybe you'll get lucky. But I don't know. All I can say is good luck. I would be mad too if someone who I didn't even know smacked my child.

Edit: I agree with the people saying that you should have stopped your son to begin with. If you knew it happened the first time when he told your son to stop, you could have just stopped it. But still, he should have never touched your son.

Answer 6

i've got faith the friendly element to do is largely do what fairly everybody else is doing and minding there very own company. Others in the shop is customarily holding quiet through reality they could think of it incredibly is super to now not get worried or thinks fairly everybody else in the shop will tell a manger or say despite to the father or mom. I witness a pair of cases young babies being hit or yelled at in shops or maybe observed a shopper stealing in the past despite if i did not say some element without difficulty pondering it incredibly is now not my commerce. it incredibly is now not my youngster or my stuff there stealing so why say something. Now if it was once greater advantageous serious like a toddler being overwhelmed by using the parent in the shop, roughed up by the collar then particular i might do despite despite if a slap, dad or mum holding the teenager arm tight isn't not toddler abuse. some mothers and fathers specifically merely get annoyed at there babies while they're walking around in a shop to cause them to smack or hit them. A parent can self-discipline there toddler as long as they don't pass away actual marks or bruises on the youngster so what can we do approximately how mothers and fathers take care of there babies in the shop not something. it incredibly is there toddler there company.

Answer 7

What your child did in the shop is irrelevant. It doesn't matter. That shop owner assaulted your child. That is plain and simple. I know a lady who's boss recently poked her three times in the shoulder as she got on her case about something. That boss is now in trouble for assault. If that owner had an issue with your child's behavior he could have handled it better. I'm appalled at the people who have come on her sitting all high and mighty as if they are the perfect parents and are blaming YOU and your child for this guy's behavior. He could have handled it differently. There was no cause for him to touch your child. None at all.

I find it interesting that so many people are willing to look the other way when a child is physically assaulted but will get all up in arms if an adult is. Does this make sense?

In the US they are trying to make it against the law to spank your children. But now we're saying it is okay for a complete stranger to hit our children?

Our values are so messed up.

Answer 8

What happen to YOUR responsibility to watch over your child? You seem to be aware that your autistic child can touch things without knowing what he is touching or he might just break it? Then you proceeded to put your other child responsible.

You also said "he came around second time," so you KNEW what was going on, yet you still did nothing to take measures to prevent the problem.

How badly did the owner smack your childs hand anyway? "Hey, don't do that" kind of smack is hardly a violence that you should get police involved.

EDIT
I'm surprised how easily people throw around the term "assult" and "violence." There is a HUGE difference between assulting someone (meaning causing injury or at least intending to cause injury) and what is being described here. Never mind, the fact the parents had an ample opportunity and warning, should she actaully wanted to protect the child.... Instead they did absolutely nothing and only reacted when someone moved to protect his interest.

Answer 9

How is that not asault? If it had been an adult it would have been a definate charge. But, because it is a disabled child they let it go.

That's crazy. I would hire a lawyer - if anything to just discuss the case. You may not have a criminal remedy but you do have a civil remedy.

PS: Make sure the lawyer wants NO retainer (up front money) and will take a cut (15% or 20%) of the settlement.

Answer 10

I don't know that you can charge someone for simply smacking a child on the hand. Although it was definately uncalled for. He should've called you and your husband over and nicely asked you to have your child stopped. But unless there was a welt or bruising from the force of the smack I don't think the courts can do much. I suggest letting him know that you are outraged by his behavior and to let many of the parents in your area know about his actions towards children. Don't go on a crusade or anything, though, there are laws against slander so stay in your boundaries of telling your story and watch the success of his store decline. And it is legal to smack your kids as long as you aren't beating them; you can spank them too as long as you aren't putting enough force in it to really hurt them.