Is Tapping a Child up Okay?

In Portage, Wisconson a man was upset with his son for refusing to wear a Green Bay Packers Jersey after they beat Seatle in a playoff game. His response was to tape the chid up with the jersey for an hour. District Attorney Jane Kohlwey of Portage said there wasn't enough evidence to support felony charges. "I wouldn't agree with what he did, but legally a parent can restrain a child," she said. "I have no proof of emotional damage. ... I have to follow the law."

She said this despite the sherrif saying earlier that the mother took pictures with her cell phone and that type of evidence is difficult to dispute. He was arrested, not for child abuse, but for "disorderly conduct".

The interesting thing, to me, is that while a parent can "legally restrain a child" (I agree with this wholeheartedly, I want to be able to keep my child from running into the street), I think we need a definition of what is "retraint" and what is "unlawful imprisonment". How can this be okay?

Would you tape your child up "as a joke" as his father stated? Some people don't seem to understand where a "joke" ends and abuse begins. And, this fellow had been involved in "domestic disputes" in the past. What this means exactly I am not entirely sure.

I am all for playing around with your kids, teasing them ocassionally is all in good fun. But seriously, taping him up for an hour?

Restraining order in effect

Strange how some kinds of "restraint" are legal but others are not. I remember a while back a woman who was thrown in jail because she handcuffed her 15 year old, drug addicted daughter to her bed at night to keep her from running away. I understand the delima, I worked with teen agers for years, but this was a bit extreme. But, this is way more understandable and forgivable then what this fellow, Kowald, did to his litle boy as a "joke". Who was laughing? His son? I doubt it. I don't think his mother would have placed a restraining order on the man for something that was truly a "joke". I mean, she could have, after all women have been known to be mean spirited and use the law as a weapon against their husbands, but she had doccumentation.

Then again, Kowald doesn't sound like the sharpest guy. He said, "I didn't mean no harm". It is entirely possible that he didn't "mean (any) harm". He doesn't sound educated enough to know better. So, in my mind, educating this guy would do a lot of good. Rather than fine him, as the courts did, he should have been made to attend Parenting classes.

As far as I know, the only system that will force a parent into parenting classes is the Child Protective Services. They should have been involved from the begining. Don't get me wrong, I am not really a fan of CPS (in my experience they either do nothing or do the wrong thing) but this is what they are overtly chartered to do; protect children.

Harmless or what?

Do you think this was a harmless "joke" or a rediculously ignorant abusive thing to do to a child? Or do you have other thoughts? I'd love to hear them.