Cactus Village Community

Justification of Force for Parents . . . by CAO Terry Cooper

Jul 27, 2003

During the past several years, especially when I was a school resource officer at Deer Valley Middle School, I was amazed at how many parents I came in contact with that thought they could not physically discipline their children. Most parents said they had a situation where Child Protective Services told parents they were not allowed to spank their children. Not that I like the idea of having to spank or discipline children, but the fact is sometimes a spanking is warranted and appropriate. Yes, there is a fine line between child abuse and discipline. We (parents) need to be careful to administer discipline when we are in control of our own emotions. If we try to discipline when we are angry or out of control, most likely our discipline will also be out of control. A lot of children will threaten their parents with calling the police if their parents spank or slap them, LET THEM, if you were using reasonable physical force to maintain discipline your actions will be backed by Arizona State law, which reads under Chapter 4. Justification: use of physical force 13-403: The use of physical force upon another person which would otherwise constitute an offense is JUSTIFIABLE and NOT CRIMINAL under any of the following circumstances: (1.) A parent or guardian and a teacher or other person entrusted with the care and supervision of a minor or incompetent person may use REASONABLE and APPROPIATE physical force upon the minor or incompetent person when and to the extent reasonably necessary and appropriate to maintain discipline. Child Protective Services has the opinion that parents should not use physical force on their children, but again, it?’s their opinion. Of course you can understand why they might have this philosophy with all the children that do suffer from terrible abuse. As I said earlier there is a fine line between discipline and abuse but I feel parents need to realize they still have authority over their children. It?’s a tough job raising our children in this day and age and we need to have various "tools?” (methods) of child rearing available to us. Respect and Responsibility seem to be values that are not taught anymore. I have seen a lot of parents that don?’t hold their kids accountable when they get into trouble or even break the law, they try to make excuses or find loop holes in order to avoid consequences for their kid?’s behavior. This does not teach respect, responsibility or good values. Anyway, physical discipline is an appropriate and valuable tool when used according to the guidelines of the law. . .☺