At this point, there is no doubt that what the letter with blood enters is a thing of the past. In general, parenting has evolved into more respectful methods demonstrating that physical punishment is not an educational method nor can it be used as a tool to correct bad behaviors. Better choose dialogue and respect.
But society still looks forward to the "cheek on time" to prevent bad behavior in the future. And when a news like that of a mother who was acquitted for hitting her "justified" slap on her 11-year-old son, the debate about where the limit is reopened.
Reported by a slap
It happened in December 2015. The mother asked the child to prepare breakfast repeatedly. He refused to obey him and remained locked in his room listening to music without paying any attention.
When her patience was filled, the mother approached to recriminate him, the boy was annoyed and stamped a 800 euros cell phone on the floor (It does not specify whether the mobile was the mother's or the child's, and if it is the latter, what does an 11-year-old boy do with a mobile of 800 euros?). The mother reacted by slapping him and scratching his neck to prevent the child from leaving home.
The minor reported the facts (the complaint was filed by the father - they are separated -) and the mother was charged with two crimes of minor injuries in the family environment. The Prosecutor's Office requested that a 35-day sentence of work be imposed on the community and the prohibition of approaching the child within 50 meters for six months.
But she was acquitted. The judge considers that if he had not corrected it, the child could transfer that behavior to other areas and begin to behave equally with peers, neighbors, etc.… And, in addition, in the sentence he alleges:
"He not only shows contempt for maternal authority, but also towards the effort and work of earning a salary with which to acquire goods. And he also incurs the act of violence that involves throwing the phone. We are not facing a discussion of reasoning in which can be tried to argue against the arguments of the opposite. We are facing a clear display by the minor of an attitude of "Emperor syndrome" that only seeks to humiliate and despise his mother. ”
"There is not the slightest intentionality of the accused in injuring her son, just to grab him. Going to a moderate physical correction is justified and it was done."
Hitting a minor is a crime
Few people know, but in Spain, hitting a minor is a crime. A slap to a child can cost the prison to the parents if the minor denounces it (more and more denunciations of the children are registered towards their parents, especially in adolescent ages).
The Criminal Code, in its article 153 explicitly sanctions all types of domestic violence against children with "imprisonment of six months to one year or work for the benefit of the community".
However, it is not entirely blunt. The law also provides that parents, in justified cases, may exercise their right of correction.
"The parents may, in the exercise of their function, seek the help of the authority."
Is a slap is abuse?
It is never lawful to hit a child, but Can it be considered mistreating to slap or slap a child on time? This is where the waters divide.
Parents as an authority have a responsibility to educate our children with the greatest respect for them, without using physical punishment as a correction tool. There are many compelling reasons why a child should never be hit. I don't agree with any type of violence, not even a cheek or a punched slap, much less from a father to a son, who is the person who should protect him above all. Years of research have shown that spanking does not work and is harmful to children.
But it is true that each case is special and the context must also be taken into account. We cannot be blind to a phenomenon that is increasingly common, especially in the case of conflicting teenagers. Juana Balmaseda, lawyer of the gender violence subcommittee of the General Council of Spanish Law, explains on ABC:
"Many teenagers, when they are not satisfied with the limits imposed on them by parents and they slap them, denounce them. That reaches the courts, sometimes with foundation and sometimes not."
"In the processes of separation and divorce, a punctual slap can be alleged against the custodial parent saying that he punishes the children very rigorously. We must see in what context it is done: the father who hits a cheek because the child has taken him crazy about a tantrum, the child who does not tolerate frustration and has explosive reactions ... They are not dangerous situations, it is not abuse".
What do you think of the sentence? Do you believe, as the judge says, that the slap is justified in certain cases?
