I’ll be honest. I find this story strange.
Rosalina Gonzales, of Corpus Christi, was sentenced to five years probation after she plead guilty to a charge of injury to a child. She admitted she spanked her two-year-old. The woman was arrested in December after her daughter’s paternal grandmother noticed red marks on the girl’s butt and took her to a hospital to get checked out.
Gonzales was sentenced to five years probation. She will have to take a parenting class and pay $50 to a children’s advocacy center. The little girl will remain in the custody of her grandparents. Gonzales also does not have custody of two other children and is working with child protective services to get them back according to kztv10.com.
“You don’t spank children today. In the old days maybe we got spanked,” Judge Jose Longoria told Gonzales. “But there was a different quarrel. You don’t spank children do you understand?”
Actually, I struggle to understand. In Texas not only is corporal punishment allowed by law, it’s one of the few states where spanking is allowed in schools.
According to the Texas Attorney General website, there are a few guidelines that help a parent determine if their discipline is abusive or not. Here’s what they say:
Striking a child above the waist is more likely to be considered abusive; disciplinary spanking is usually confined to the buttocks.
Spanking with the bare, open hand is least likely to be abusive; the use of an instrument is cause for concern. Belts and hair brushes are accepted by many as legitimate disciplinary “tools,” and their use is not likely to be considered abusive, as long as injury does not occur. Electrical or phone cords, boards, yardsticks, ropes, shoes, and wires are likely to be considered instruments of abuse.
It is best not to hit a child in anger. Abusive punishment is most likely to occur when the parent is out of control.
Finally, and most important, punishment is abusive if it causes injury. A blow that causes a red mark that fades in an hour is not likely to be judged abusive. On the other hand, a blow that leaves a bruise, welt, or swelling, or requires medical attention, probably would be judged abusive.
How a parent is to determine just how hard to hit a kid so that it doesn’t leave a mark for longer than hour is beyond me. Not only is that a fine line to negotiate, it’s been fairly well documented that spanking does little for a child’s long-term behavior issues and is more likely to make them aggressive and susceptible to mental health problems.
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