ShaniFaye

Stranger allegedly slaps crying child in store - CNN.com

Just as a side note, this walmart is about 5 minutes from my house

I may get branded the worst person in the world lol but the tiniest evilist part of me just says "yay you" to this guy

One of the my biggest pet peeves are parents that do not take their crying child out of the area where everyone is.

I would never have any child slapped in the face, though I dont have a problem with spanking. And if another person so much much as laid pinky on my child they'd be in some serious hurt. But then I was the kind of mother that took Amanda out when she did stuff like that.

I feel really guilty that when I read that article my first thought was "yay you" not, "oh thats horrible"

Is anyone else out there like that would be willing to admit it?

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Sue

Nope Shani, I had a little part of me go YAY as well. Although I can understand it being terrible that a stranger did this. If I were the kid's mom, I'd have taken them out of the area too.

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Xerxys

Thats fucked up, no seriously there is a time and place for discipline. There is also a person. I do not condone wanton cruelty to kids and a stranger walking up on a child and slapping them IS wanton cruelty, what kind of message are we sending?

A parent should discipline their child, I have no problem with them slapping them if thats what it takes. A person of authority should discipline their kids, i.e. teachers, nanny's etc etc ... not some dimwit WWII war hero stranger! I'd break his hip if I were there.

sapiens

I don't want to sound like an internet tough guy, but if I were the child's parent, I would have probably attacked the man who hit my child.

I don't know the circumstances around what caused the child to cry, but I don't see how attacking a child is the appropriate response to that child crying.

LordEden

My first thought was "This guy needs a fucking metal."

I know I don't want someone touching my kid (when I have one), but mannnnn I wanted to do this before. So many fucking times.

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spindles

what? Geez, I'd never get anything done at the shops if I had to leave every time one of the boys decided to throw a wobbly.

It's a crying child - get over it.

If you don't want to hear crying children, how about you stay home?

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Reese

I applaud him for having the balls to actually do it. I really thought I was going to be in the minority on that one as I opened the thread. Sure, He overstepped his bounds and I'm sure slapping a kid is the wrong way to make it stop crying unless you're going for the knockout but man, it's kinda funny.

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Glory's Sun

kids throw wobbly's .. big fucking deal. if you as an adult can't handle a fucking child acting up at 2 years old then sorry that's fucking pathetic.

the cops would be arresting me as well if someone dared slap my child like that.. I'd beat the FUCK out of that person.

I can't understand how people expect a 2 year old to be perfect all the time.. or that a parent should just be so considerate to take that child out of the area every time the child pops a wobbly. I can see doing it sometimes, but if I'm in a hurry, I'm going to get my shit, and get out.. boo fucking hoo if you have to hear a 2 year old tantrum.

FuglyStick

That was...not cool. I totally understand where the guy was coming from, and at 61, his generation had a completely different idea about discipline; in many ways, a better idea, considering how undisciplined most children are anymore.

Still, it's someone else's kid, a complete stranger, and that's not gonna fly.

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SecretMethod70

spindles & guccilvr for the win, and I don't even want kids!

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LoganSnake

He hit her four or five times? He would be suffering from a concussion before he could land the first slap if it was my daughter he tried to discipline. You don't like to hear a little child crying? Sucks to be you. It's annoying, but you should be able to get over it.

What should've happened:

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filtherton

That video was the first thing I thought of, LoganSnake.

I second everyone who mentioned committing violence towards the older gentleman. I also second the sentiment that folks should be able to show some emotional maturity and cope with the occasional screaming kid in a department store.

Grancey

A crying child should be removed and relocated to a more pleasant area for the child. It is abusive of the parents to force a child to be in a situation that makes them cry and scream. They are obviously miserable and suffering needlessly.

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filtherton

Let me know if I'm wrong here, but, you haven't spent a lot of time around children, have you?

Poppinjay

A crying baby in a Wal Mart? Wow, never heard of such a thing.

At my last count, there were about a hundred fucking annoying things that ADULTS do at Wal Marts that outweigh a 2 year old crying. A 61 year old gapped tooth cousin fucker gets his jollies out of hitting a kid, but doesn't seem to have the balls to try that with a grown person.

What the hell is it about unhappy children that sets people off? You think it's so easy to turn off the crying?

I was astounded when I read the story. I think it was horrible and the guy probably likes children quiet, bound and gagged in his basement for later use.

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DaniGirl

Thank you for being the voice of reason. Now I understand that it is annoying when someones kid is screaming and crying in a public place, but that gives NO ONE the right to touch someones kid. Now I have three girls, one is five but the other two are under the age of 2 and I have never had an issue with them throwing a fit in a store. One time my daughter took a piece of candy at the check out stand. I walked her right back in the store to hand it to the cashier and apologize. It embarrassed her, but it made her realize that what she did was wrong and I have not had another problem with her since.

But back to the subject if anyone slapped my child I would kick there ass. What kind of person just comes up and hits someones kid. I have not personally had a problem with my kids in a store but I know if a child does not feel good and cant tell you why they just cry and cry. Its not always a lack of parenting that is the problem. Some parents are single and have no choice but to shop with there kids.

---------- Post added at 10:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 PM ----------

thanks for sharing that video LoganSnake, that is exactly how I would react if someone hit or kicked my kid.

Daniel_

I don't think that leaving the store when your kid blubbs is essential, but people who do nothing at all when they have a crying child piss me off.

As for people who have no control of their kids, I always remember a flatmate of mine who said "why do some people only take their kids to the shops in order to scream at them?".

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Strange Famous

its plain and simple asault - all the more cowardly because the victim was utterly unable to defend themselves. This guy should be looking at 5 years minimum staring at a concrete wall fo 23 hours a day - hopefully he'll find enough peace and quiet to satisfy himself under those conditions.

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CinnamonGirl

Crying kids aren't fun, and parents who do nothing about it are annoying as hell... but I have issues with slapping kids in the face. A woman at one of my tables did that the other night, and I had to walk away before I slapped HER.



...that's really all I have to say.

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highthief

Nope, I'd have probably come close to killing ANYONE who laid a finger on my kids.

And if I'd seen this happen, even if it wasn't my kid, I'd probably have done the same.

This guy is 100% asshole and criminal.

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The_Jazz

Put me in the overly violent response camp. I currently have a "thing" going with a neighbor who screamed at my toddler when he got fingerprints on the outside of the guy's front window. I'll spare everyone the details, but let's just say we're not on speaking terms.

When we are out and someone misbehaves, I try to be zen about it. I don't reward bad behavior with a response. I tell them that they aren't allowed to behave like that and stay calm. That's new for the younger one, by the way. There are various punishments at home that while be dealt out later.

Now, to all of you that think this is at all acceptable; I find your opinions moronic, selfish and tragic. To those of you who are parents - shame on you. Its somehow even approaching ok for a stranger to slap a toddler?! I'm no "precious snowflake" guy, but ANYONE (parent or not) slapping a toddler in the face is unacceptable. If you somehow seriously think it is, you're less than human .

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ratbastid

Evolution. We've evolved as a species to have the distress call of our young be particularly attention-grabbing. Pretty damn adaptive, if you put us a thousand years ago in the woods. Not so hot at Wal-Mart in 2009.

little_tippler

If some stranger tried to do that to my kid I'd probably make a good attempt at kicking their ass. There is no excuse for this. I am also against slapping or smacking.

That being said, I also think that parents whose kids are having a fit should do something about it, if they can. But then, some kids just elude any kind of reasoning in those situations. It's life. I think kids who are brought up right for the most part will not be doing this kind of thing that frequently.

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ShaniFaye

For the record (even though I said I'd have hurt the man for touching my child) I feel I need to clarify. Crying doesnt bother me, babies are going to cry, toddlers are going to cry. My peeve is with parents that have a child throwing and out and out temper trantrum in stores, restaurants, movie theaters etc. I'm a mother, I understand that even the best of children are occasionally have fits like that, I also know I would never in a million years walk around ignoring it to the point that its irritating to other people. My errands are never to important to teach a child that behavior like that in public is NOT a good thing and not tolerated, so I have zero problem removing the child to a more private place (store bathroom, outside etc) until the issue is resolved.

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Glory's Sun

please tell me this was sarcasm..

please.

cdwonderful

should have been the parent slapping the kid, or the walmart greeter............

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mixedmedia

I agree with Shani that a parent should not allow their child to go on and on in a public space without attempting to quiet them. It is very frustrating and annoying to hear a child screaming or crying uncontrollably while you look over and see the parent continuing to shop and doing NOTHING about it. It's both irresponsible parenting and rude. Young children (and sometimes not so young) sometimes cry or throw temper tantrums to relieve stress and it's ok to tolerate it - to a point. When it goes on past a reasonable amount of time and the parent is doing nothing to teach the child that it is inappropriate behavior - well, I don't blame anyone for being judgmental about it. It's never too early to encourage an awareness of respectful public behavior.

That said, I'm not of the mind that slapping anyone, particularly a child, particularly a toddler, is ever an appropriate response in any situation. If anything, it betrays a lack of discipline and self-control rivalled, perhaps, only by the ravings of an out-of-control child in a Walmart.

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snowy

It's understandable for a 2-year-old to have a tantrum--it's absolutely developmentally normal. A toddler's capacity for language hasn't yet caught up with their cognitive ability, and they often get overloaded with trying to express themselves.

The response should NEVER be a slap in the face, by ANYONE. If a stranger tried to touch a child I cared for--whether it was my own or a child I was nannying--he would be hurtin' for certain. It is unacceptable to physically harm a child. Period.

I have a lot of experience with dealing with tantrums, as the job I work in seems to specialize in care for 2-year-olds. The best tactic is to let them be. The tantrum will pass, and later, you can talk with them about how when they're frustrated, they need to try and use their words. However, this obviously does not work in public. The best tactic then is to make it clear to the 2-year-old that if they have a tantrum, that will be the end of the activity--whatever it is, you will stop, and you will leave.

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BadNick

edit: OK...I mixed up what video I watched. Now I see that I didn't see what happened here.
why is the title "...allegedly slaps..."? Since I'm seeing it I don't know what's "alleged" about it...it happened and I don't need a judge or jury to agree that the stranger slapped the kid.

Otherwise, my first thought was that any adult that would do that has to be having a mental problem. It was totally out of control, totally inappropriate behavior by any standard.

Due to my own limited patience for insanity that violates my space, I might have hurt that guy really bad if he did that to my kid. Reminds me of an incident many years ago in a local park. I was talking a leisurely walk with my little daughter on a path along the creek, she was maybe 6 yrs old, a jogger came up from behind us and ran right into her and then acted like she was "in his way"...I knocked the guy down and could barely contain myself from hurting him much worse.

fresnelly

Here's a thought experiment: Let's swap the crying toddler for a whining puppy. Does that change how you might act?

The man crossed the line. Why is escalation always the answer?

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mrklixx

It annoys me when old people drive like crap. So by Mr. Stephens logic, it would be perfectly acceptable for me to apply a shotgun blast to his face when he drives for miles with his blinker on.

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Glory's Sun

I fully understand why people get annoyed at parents and children who are whining. I get it. In fact, I get annoyed at other people's kids because of the whining.. however, I'm not going to tell them how to parent or even come close to smacking their child.

There's a difference in letting the whining go on for a while and not doing anything about it, and someone just grabbing what they need and removing the child. I think that it's worse on a child in the long run if you continually move them out of the area because they are whining. That does nothing but teach them that if they don't like something, they can run away and go somewhere better. Yes I understand the whole "take them out to show it won't be tolerated" but in most cases, especially with children 3 and under, ignoring them does a better job of getting the point across. It's like a dog, you give it attention when it's doing something wrong and it reinforces the behavior, ignore it, and he'll get the idea that he shouldn't do it. Same goes, in a way, for children. Ignore their tantrums and deal with it appropriately when you get home or to the car and they'll get the point.

There is no excuse for what this guy did (if he did it). None. Nada. Zip. I don't care about his generation and all that, a child is still a child. You don't fuck with other people's kids.. and yeah.. I said it before.. I'll say it many times again.. he, or anyone else, better count their blessings that it wasn't my child. I'd gladly take a charge for protecting my kids.

wooÐs

Man Jailed for Hitting Stranger's Child 090209 | myfoxatlanta.com

I wanna know what made him chuckle and say 'thank you.'

Yes, it's unfortunate what he did to the 2-year-old. If anything, I'd lash out at the parents instead of the child. From from a comedic aspect though, the story made me smile. It's something you'd see on 'Family Guy' or what not.

And for the record, I was raised with my Father smacking me across the face as a form of discipline. meh.

highthief

It's acceptable by his logic (and anyone who agrees with him) to take a swipe at anyone who annoys you. Old people, babies, whoever - just whack 'em when you get annoyed.

This guy is scum. Hopefully, when he's in prision and he annoys someone, he'll get a good kicking.

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stevie667

thats the crux of the matter, well put.

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LoganSnake

Good.

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telekinetic

There is no adrenalin dump like the one you get when your child is hurt, and if that hurt had an intentional sentient cause, I don't want to think about what I would do to them before I calmed down.


To everyone defending, condoning (or congratulating) this action (Shani, Bear cub, Sue, LordEden, Reese), you have all gone down a notch in my book.

This isn't a crying baby in a theater at a rated-R movie, or a bratty kid unsupervised in a jewelry shop. It's a two year old, being supervised by her parent, at fucking wal-mart while her mom grocery shops and buys socks and detergent. This is not an optional action, or one with a reasonable alternative or solution other than 'continue to purchase items necessary to live'

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warrrreagl

Shani, Chris Rock sent me an e-mail and said he wanted me to post his reply to this thread for him.

"I'm not saying he should have killed her, but I understand."

I'll go along with that.

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