Coach slaps Player...

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by GarthB

This has nothing to do with what the kid may have said or have done. It has nothing to do with our judgment as to whether or not the kid "deserved it." An adult slapping the face of a 12 year old is violent behavior. If it is committed between participants of a game and witnessed by a sports official within the confines of the field, including the dugout, it needs to be addressed.

Few things are this cut and dried. This is.

Garth,

Your approach to this is wrong from my point of view. This will also not be solved here as well. Maybe you feel this is assault, I do not. We have made every action towards children wrong or against the law. You cannot yell at them, you cannot touch them; you cannot hurt their feelings without being considered violent or abusive. Here in lies the problem. When I was a kid if I did something wrong, my Mom and Dad would have expected a "whoopin" from other adults and I would have gotten a "whoopin" from my parents again when I got home. That is the time I grew up in. We have kids nowadays calling adults by their first names and that does not bother them. The bottom line this is cut and dry for you because I believe you have bought into the idea of what this society's standards which too many have eroded this society. Today we have more kids that committing crimes, killing people, selling drugs and we want to make an adult responsible because he was trying to show the kid some level of respect for what he was doing. We have had kids shoot up schools and had an arsenal for months in their parent’s house of all places. When I was a kid I could not have a lock on my door or a TV in my room. Now parents give their kids cell phones and do not know what the word “NO” means. I realize my point of view is not the norm on this, but I have never been to jail and never committed crimes in my life. I was afraid of my parents and today all the adults want to be their kids friends. Instead of setting standards of conduct, we sue officials because someone threw little Johnny out of a game for conduct which the rules of the game clearly see as wrong. Garth, I just do not buy into this society that tells us kids are equals to adults and have the same rights as adults. Then we hold the adults responsible when the kids act out or do things that break the law but you cannot discipline them without a threat of a lawyer having a say.

Peace