Corpun file 17166

Florida Today, Melbourne, Florida, 6 December 2005

Letters: Raising your kids

Spanking is a lesson kids will remember

A recent letter, headlined "Support for corporal punishment indefensible," criticized a syndicated columnist's call for "a stern hand."

Why does it seem that every time someone writes about children and discipline, some say, "Oh, no, don't spank."

Maybe if parents would take back the control of their children, we would not have the problems with children there are today.

I recently observed a 10-year-old at a store wail "I hate you" at her embarrassed mom when she wanted something and was told no.

A gentleman walking by gave the child a dirty look and said, "Be glad you're not mine, acting that way."

Bravo to him.

If children of mine acted that way, I would give them a look, and if that was not enough I would take them to the bathroom and spank their bottoms. And they know it.

I do not spank every day, nor have spanked for a few years now. When they were little, I taught them respect by talking and, when needed, a spanking.

I've talked to other parents who don't spank for fear of being accused of abuse. Please. If you give a swat or two on their bottoms with your hand, that's not child abuse.

We parents need to take back our kids and make them good citizens, not problems in society.

Raising difficult teens made worse by system

Has anyone else noticed all the children in the news these days killing their parents?

I think I understand why this is going on.

We are told there is help out there for our troubled children. But much of it is available only after the child has a run-in with the law.

If your child has medical issues there can be very little help.

A teenager can drive under age and under the influence and be brought home to the parents with no charges pressed. Children can beat their parents only to have the parents told it's their fault.

Not from my point of view.

I challenge the Florida judicial system to start giving back parents' rights, so we can take control of our children.

The saddest thing about it is that these unruly children are our future.

Why are our children out killing their parents? Because they are taught there are little repercussions for their actions.

Corpun file 17156

kfoxtv.com (KFOX-TV), El Paso, Texas, 15 December 2005

Deputy Charged With Injury To A Child

December 15, 2005 -- An El Paso County Sheriff's deputy is booked on charges of injury to a child.

Federico Titus is accused of spanking his step-daughter earlier this week with enough force to bruise her buttocks.

The arrest affidavit obtained by KFOX says that on Sunday, Titus warned his daughter to quit moving the bag away from her little brother as the two were picking up dog feces or he would spank her.

The 8 year old allegedly defied Titus and he spanked her approximately six times with a belt.

The next day, the affidavit says the little girl was doing homework with Titus when she failed to answer six questions correctly.

Titus allegedly spanked her six times for the six incorrect answers and an additional three times for bringing home three F's.

The affidavit says the victim made an outcry to the school nurse on Tuesday because she couldn't sit down from the pain of her injuries.

A police investigator observed the girl had bruising on her buttocks about three to four inches wide.

Titus was booked Wednesday with bond set at 15-thousand dollars.

Copyright 2005 by KFOXTV.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Corpun file 17245

San Bernadino County Sun, California, 15 December 2005

Minister faces jail in beating of his son

Some say corporal punishment a right

By Brad A. Greenberg
Staff Writer

(extracts)

SAN BERNARDINO - A local minister and high school psychologist will be in court today, presumably to begin his 120-day sentence for whipping his teenage son with a leather belt for five minutes. Craig Luke was convicted in December 2004 of injuring his 17-year-old son, Robert. With his appeals exhausted, Luke was in San Bernardino Superior Court on Monday and Thursday to request serving his time under house arrest and on weekends.

"I've got to say, the judge is still saying you're going to serve the 120 days. He's not budging," Luke's public defender, Samuel Knudsen, told him Thursday.

Luke's case has been a cause celebre for some conservative area ministers. They claim the state is denying a Christian's constitutional right to discipline in accordance with their faith.

"The Bible teaches us if we spare the rod we spoil the child; if we spare the rod, we hate the child," said Oliver Lambert, pastor of Missions for Jesus Christ in San Bernardino.

That paraphrase of Proverbs 13 is commonly referenced by defenders of corporal punishment.

No one ever mentions Deuteronomy 21:

"If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son . . . then his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town. . . . Then all the men of the town shall stone him to death."

Still, Luke's case has called into question the effectiveness of spanking or belting a disobedient child. Corporal punishment that does not leave injury is legal at home in all 50 states. It is permitted in schools in 22 states, though some only in private schools; California prohibits it in both school systems.

[...]

In January 2004, Luke returned home to find his two infants alone. Robert, then 17, had abandoned his baby-sitting post. It was another transgression for the minister's son, who had been skipping school, staying out late and smoking dope, Luke said.

So when Robert returned, Luke, who preaches at retirement homes and is a psychologist at Arroyo Valley High School, decided to teach his son a lesson. Luke handcuffed Robert's hands behind his back and proceeded to lash him with a belt for five minutes.

The belt left imprints across the teens forearms for days, according to the Department of Protective Services.

"That wasn't discipline. I don't know what you would call that. The closest thing . . . is what we have with slaves who tried to escape," said Marc Guillory, who prosecuted the case. "It wasn't Christian. It wasn't ethical. It wasn't moral. It was appalling. What kind of hope does a kid have who is already struggling in life getting that kind of treatment in his home?

"If you have to do this to a 17-year-old, not only are you committing a crime, but you're late," Guillory added. "You've already failed."

Luke's five children, then living at home - he has eight - were removed from his care. They were returned one by one over the following nine months. Robert Luke, now 19, didn't finish high school and is living with his girlfriend and 6-month-old daughter in San Bernardino.

"If you really say this is for the better of the family, it doesn't appear that way," said Luke, 39, who maintains his form of discipline was appropriate.

Robert Luke appeared in court with his father Thursday. He doesn't agree with the whipping he received, but he and his father have reconciled.

"He's supposed to be locked up today - I'm trying to prevent that," Robert Luke said in the hallway outside Judge J. Michael Welch's courtroom. "He's been helping me, supporting me, helping me get a job - all that."