Anonymous wrote:Really? You approve of a mother beating her son? I understand why she did, given the context, but I abhor it. The son is engaging in violence so she...treats him with violence. And the cycle goes on. If this child had been a white boy from Bethesda and his mom was caught on tape beating him on the street she would be charged with abuse. But a black boy in the middle of a protest and everyone claps. Its bizarre. You can find hundreds of pages of threads on DCUM arguing about whether spanking is right, but all seem to agree that it should stop, if it is ever right at all, once the child can be reasoned with. I think the subtext to the approval of the beating of this boy is that because he is a poor black boy in West Baltimore he can't be reasoned with, can't be treated like other teens.

I'd say "on the street" and "in the middle of protest" is where your logic fails miserably.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all of you questioning what she did let's put one of your children in a situation where they are not only doing something they shouldn't, but they are in harms way. Let's get your adrenaline up and see how in control you are.

As best I recall she was hitting him with an open hand. A slap hurts but I doubt any of those blows would do significant harm. And no, not mentally either.

I so would not have had to hit my kid to make her leave. I learned long ago how to use the "voice of doom" to scare the piss out of her in those few instances where it was necessary.

That's what we'd all like to think, just like we'd all like to think our kids wouldn't fall victim to the mob mentality and always do the right thing.

Anonymous wrote:For all of you questioning what she did let's put one of your children in a situation where they are not only doing something they shouldn't, but they are in harms way. Let's get your adrenaline up and see how in control you are.

As best I recall she was hitting him with an open hand. A slap hurts but I doubt any of those blows would do significant harm. And no, not mentally either.

I so would not have had to hit my kid to make her leave. I learned long ago how to use the "voice of doom" to scare the piss out of her in those few instances where it was necessary.

I am not going to judge this mom because I don't know her, or her son, and I don't know what they have been through. She probably did what needed to be done.

That said, the reaction to it is truly bizarre. Whether she was right or wrong is beside the point. Whether or not it was actually a beating is beside the point. If this was a white boy in Bethesda, I guarantee there would be a lot more people accusing her of abuse. There would also be people calling her a hero, but not as many as we are seeing here. We would also be hearing excuses for the boy's behavior - rough childhood, mental problems, school system, school lunches, common core, Obama, Benghazi.

But with the black boy in Baltimore, we all just assume that this is the only way to deal with him, and that every other mom should have been out there beating their sons as well.

For all of you questioning what she did let's put one of your children in a situation where they are not only doing something they shouldn't, but they are in harms way. Let's get your adrenaline up and see how in control you are.

As best I recall she was hitting him with an open hand. A slap hurts but I doubt any of those blows would do significant harm. And no, not mentally either.

Anonymous wrote:Some of you have lived charmed lives if this was a "beating" to you. LOL

And sorry. I do not believe in corporal punishment and have never spanked my children (I was spanked as a child). But I damn sure am not going to stand in the middle of a riot and "reason" with my son. He is coming with me by force if need be. When we are talking about life, death and arrest, all of my "child resaoning" bets are off.

If this had been a White boy in Bethsda who was out there rioting after a Caps loss, I would fully support a parent doing what this lady did.

+1 - white female here. My (single) mom was not afraid to dish out the backhand or hit us with any object sitting within reach. I'm well adjusted.

This is 12:28. Its not that I think the mom should be criticized for doing what she did, its that I find it strange that so many people are gleefully calling her mom of the year. Did anyone read Harry Potter, where evil Aunt Marge tells Harry's Aunt Petunia to tell his school that, when it came to beating, she approved of "extreme measures in this boy's case?" She says this not because of what Harry has done, but because of who he is, a bad seed. I feel like the under current here is that it is okay for this mom to use violence on her kid because he is, unlike "our" kids, a bad seed, that all those kids are bad seeds.

What would I have done? I don't know, which is why I won't criticize her. But I won't hold her behavior up as an ideal, either. She didn't want her boy to become Freddie Gray, and I hurt for her.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, if you abhor what the mom did, I'm curious how would you react in that situation? Just leave him and let him suffer the "natural consequences"? You could try to just talk to him, but what if he didn't listen and come home?

Sure, we can all hope that as parents we've done our jobs to instill morals in our kids, that they won't have the mob mentality, but I'm sure some of those same parents have kids that have done something violent.

It's not clear that she had to hit him to make him leave.

Exactly, so who are we to judge in the comfort behind our computers.

Anonymous wrote:I'm torn. I know she was desperate to get him out of that situation, but wonder if this is a regular thing with them. Maybe he thought it was ok to be violent outside the home because it happens at home and he's used to dealing with things that way?

I've said it before, do those kids who riot after sports events or frat boys that rape girls think it's ok because it happens in their homes?

Not all kids who get spanked are violent, and not all kids who commit violent acts come from violent homes.

Anonymous wrote:So, if you abhor what the mom did, I'm curious how would you react in that situation? Just leave him and let him suffer the "natural consequences"? You could try to just talk to him, but what if he didn't listen and come home?

Sure, we can all hope that as parents we've done our jobs to instill morals in our kids, that they won't have the mob mentality, but I'm sure some of those same parents have kids that have done something violent.

It's not clear that she had to hit him to make him leave.

Anonymous wrote:I'm torn. I know she was desperate to get him out of that situation, but wonder if this is a regular thing with them. Maybe he thought it was ok to be violent outside the home because it happens at home and he's used to dealing with things that way?

There is no way to say for sure, but I didn't get that impression from seeing on the news. He was very soft spoken and said that all
Of his friends were doing it and he followed along. One of her daughters recently applied with the Baltimore city police department, so it appears as if she is doing the best she can to raise her kids.

Anonymous wrote:Really? You approve of a mother beating her son? I understand why she did, given the context, but I abhor it. The son is engaging in violence so she...treats him with violence. And the cycle goes on. If this child had been a white boy from Bethesda and his mom was caught on tape beating him on the street she would be charged with abuse. But a black boy in the middle of a protest and everyone claps. Its bizarre. You can find hundreds of pages of threads on DCUM arguing about whether spanking is right, but all seem to agree that it should stop, if it is ever right at all, once the child can be reasoned with. I think the subtext to the approval of the beating of this boy is that because he is a poor black boy in West Baltimore he can't be reasoned with, can't be treated like other teens.

Yes, I was surprised when I saw the video. On one hand, I approved of her laying the law down with her child. On the other hand, I thought, uh, folks, this suggests that this woman hits her kid whenever she "lays down the law." How are people okay with beating a kid?

Anonymous wrote:I'm torn. I know she was desperate to get him out of that situation, but wonder if this is a regular thing with them. Maybe he thought it was ok to be violent outside the home because it happens at home and he's used to dealing with things that way?

Wait...so you are saying that these kids thought it was Ok to riot becaue they got spanked at home?

I'm torn. I know she was desperate to get him out of that situation, but wonder if this is a regular thing with them. Maybe he thought it was ok to be violent outside the home because it happens at home and he's used to dealing with things that way?

So, if you abhor what the mom did, I'm curious how would you react in that situation? Just leave him and let him suffer the "natural consequences"? You could try to just talk to him, but what if he didn't listen and come home?

Sure, we can all hope that as parents we've done our jobs to instill morals in our kids, that they won't have the mob mentality, but I'm sure some of those same parents have kids that have done something violent.