Bring back the Whoopings!!!

“Boy, I remember when I was younger.  We dared not act out in school or public because if any of our neighbors or teachers caught us acting the fool, they'd beat us.  Then they'd tell momma and she'd beat us.  Then when daddy got home, she'd tell him and then he'd beat us.  Ya'll got it made!”

Have you ever heard this story?  Well I have.  It goes right along with “Boy, we used to walk 10 miles to school.  In the snow, no less.  Ya’ll got it made!” (OK, ma it was South Florida. Snow, really???) 

Well, today while I was going through the news on the web (NBC News 7), I came across a report about a parent slapping a kid on a bus.  At first, I thought oh my God.  How could she do that?  So, I read the report, admittedly getting upset as I read the report. 

          “As evident in the video, the mad momma charged onto the school bus, had her daughter point out the boy who hit her. She then smacked the kid in the mouth with the back of her hand and told him, "don't touch my child.”  Vid: Slap Heard ‘Round the Bus, by Brian Hamacher and Steve Litz,

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Mom-Delivers-School-Bus-Beatdown-117241268.html

Oh, snap there’s a video…so I click on the icon and the video starts.  I am half expecting some crazy woman cussing and screaming.  Busting unto a bus and just attacking some poor kid.  Well, to my surprise this is not what I saw.  The first thing I noticed was the fact that before the woman got to the bus, the kids started shouting, “ohhhhhhhh”.  Now, if you have ever been a kid on a bus or in school you know that when “ohhhhhh” is sounded that means someone is in trouble.  Now, this sets off alarms in my head, but I continue watching still expecting the worse.  Now, the woman gets on the bus and the driver half-heartedly attempts to advise her that she is not allowed there.  The woman ignores him (how dare she???LOL) and continues to proceed unto the top flight of stairs on the bus, pauses and then she inquires about the whereabouts of the child who has been beating her 6 year old daughter. Now, even I have to admit that she seemed a little agitated, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that she charged onto the bus.  It was more like a march (like Sophia in “The Color Purple” when she was going to meet Mister).  So, now bells are still ringing in my ears about the set up for this video, but I continue to watch waiting for this explosive scene of violence.  What I am treated to, however, is what seems to be a concerned parent trying to find the culprit behind their child’s pain.  She asked the bus about the bully, when one of the children or her daughter (it was not clear who responded because it was a little inaudible) advises that Jamal, did it and points him out.  She calmly walked toward the child (like any black mother would) and says “Hey, Listen.  Don’t put your hands on my baby.  OK? Then the funniest thing happened.  She paused.  From my calculations it was a little bit over a second, but the pause is clearly noticeable, and then she smacked Jamal.  I say smacked because that’s what it was.  Like a mother disciplining her own child.  The news report made it seem like it was one of those “You told Harpo to beat me, slaps”.  That’s what I was expecting.  But, the woman did not deliver on my expectations and I so want my money back.  Who do I call?  Oh yeah, this was on the news.  Anyway, it seems to me that when she paused that little 7 year old woman beater, Jamal, must’ve said something under his breath, prior to her laying the “Smack Down”.  You know how kids today are (No EXCUSE, though).  The woman proceeds to turn around and says to the bewildered boy and he must’ve had one of those,

"OMG, she just slapped me"


looks on his face (We couldn’t see it because they are minors and it is illegal to show their faces…Damn! Damn! Damn! I would’ve paid to see that boys countenance after that.) So, she proceeds to say, “Don’t touch my child!  I don’t give a fuck.” Now, yes she shouldn’t have dropped the “F” bomb in front of those children, but it was obvious that she was agitated at this boy’s lack of respect for other people.  This is also apparent because she uses one more expletive as she tries to exit the bus, but is locked in by the driver.  She then apologizes to that same driver and explains to him what happened and why she did what she did.  If you know anything about black woman, anything at all then you know that if she had been intending to harm that child from the beginning that scene would have been real different.  Even after the smack the bus driver would have been privy to the most expletive filled tongue lashing in history.  This was not at all what I was expecting, especially when I saw that she was black.  I am still sitting here wishing I had my money back.  The two, count that two authors of that news report filled it with such sensationalism that I had condemned this woman to the electric chair.  If there had been no

video recording of said events, Ms. Toccara Daniels would have been the wickedest villain since Beau Willie dropped those two babies in “For Colored Girls”.

 

That’s the power of the written word and it is an example of how the media can get someone convicted by twisting the truth just to sell papers, or in this case just to get me to view their site.  I personally will never watch or visit NBC NEWS MIAMI’s site again.

 

In the case of little Jamal getting pimped slapped by Ms. Daniels, I don’t blame Ms. Daniels not one bit.   (I know I am going to get flak from this next part because adults should never condone physical abuse of any person.)  Just think,  had Ms. Daniels not cared enough for her daughter to risk jail by entering that bus just to advise little 7 year old Jamal (oh did I mention according to WSVN news site, this kid has had trouble in the past)(Damn, he’s 7 and already has a record...now, that’s a hot damn mess.) not to touch her daughter and the bullying continued.  What if she the little 6 year old girl got fed up with his crap and decided to exact revenge by bringing a knife to school and stabbing poor Jamal.  Would that be a better result?  Or what if little Jamal lost control and hit that little girl a little bit to hard and she felled down the stairs at school, killing herself?  Is that better?  Heck, what if little Jamal gets transferred to your kids school and started this all over again?  Would you be satisfied then?  I salute Ms. Daniels in her effort to protect her daughter.  Yeah, it might not have been the best way to solve the problem, but at least she took a stand.  What has the schools or that little boys parents done to correct his behaviour, especially since the news media has reported that he has had trouble in the past.  I think the judge agrees with me because when Ms. Daniels appeared before him he was quoted as saying, "I can understand as a parent, somebody abusing your child and you're gonna go on the bus," Judge John Hurley continued to say “Emotionally, my heart goes out to your client but legally I have to follow the law”.  Now, this is a seasoned child welfare judge saying this, so that should clue you in 

that maybe the child abuse protection laws are to harsh.

I personally say,

"Bring Back the Whoopings"

“Good Ol’ Fashioned Whoopings”, they were good enough for us and our parents and grandparents.  So they should be good enough for our kids.  How many of you have notice to the total social decline of our communities since the enacting of these child abuse protection laws.  We used to could beat our kids as a deterrent for them to act right, but now what do we have a time out, groundings.  If you have has been a kid then you know these methods don’t work.  As evident by the increasing numbers of young black kids who are “grown, fresh, and ill and no-mannered”.  The government took away the beatings and our children have been the ones to suffer.

So, I think this entire mess is the fault of legislators.  Legislators who created such tough child abuse protection laws that they have affectively tied the hands of child abusers and good parents alike.  The good parent who may not have the knowledge of alternative methods of child punishment and is only trying to make sure their child grows up with some boundaries and the good parent who may have beat in anger (which is a NO NO).  So as this judge, who probably would have allowed Ms. Daniels to go or ruled in favour of a light sentence, but could not because “the law” mandates otherwise.  The law needs to be changed to allow judges to utilize a reasonable amount of discretion for cases like this. This would give them the ability to more effectively weed out the “good parents” from those who should be stoned.  If they are not willing to give the judge’s discretion, then classes should be offered, at the taxpayers’ expense, for new and expecting parents to train them on affective alternative methods of behaviour modification.

 

The taxpayer should foot the bill because it would be cheaper to pay for the classes than it is now without them.  Nowadays, with the strict unmoving laws it cost money to have someone investigate each child abuse case, then if they have to prosecute (more money), the cost to house and feed the accused (more money), plus the cost to locate and place the accused’s children while they are either awaiting trial or in jail after the conviction.

What you can do about this if you feel as I do.  Get involved in your municipal, state, and federal elections processes.  Contact your representatives and tell them that we need a review and/or change of the laws.  Then stay involved.

 

Act up, Speak out, and VOTE!

To Ms. Daniels, I hope you know that you have at least 2 people out here (outside of your family) praying for you.  Hoping, for your quick return to your daughter and your family.