Father warned for flicking son on ear
January 19th, 2008 by Brad HeapOkay I haven’t blogged in a while, but got three news related blogs to do this morning. Firstly.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10486718
A father police warned for reprimanding his son by a flick to the ear wants the warning removed from his record.
Professional musician Jimmy Mason flicked his three-year-old son Seth after a biking accident involving his two-year-old son Zach who had injured his eye.
“Seth just wanted to go on riding. He didn’t realise the seriousness of it with the youngest one slipping in and out of consciousness,” Mr Mason told The Press newspaper.
“So I turned to Seth and flicked him on the ear and told him to shut up while we fixed up the young one.”
Police were called by an off-duty police officer.
It was “pretty bizarre” being surrounded by six police officers trying to ascertain whether it was safe for the children to go home with him, Mr Mason said.
He took his sons biking daily and they needed to obey his instructions to stay safe.
“When I say ’stop’ to the kids they have got to stop.” he said.
He was not charged but told that a warning would go on his record.
“It needs to be on record that I disciplined him for something he deserved, not that I’m a child beater.”
He was considering legal action to get the warning removed, Mr Mason said.
Inspector Rick Jury told the paper police had some discretion in deciding whether to prosecute.
One of the law’s clauses allowed parents to use some force for the purpose of minimising harm.
It was only a matter of time before this happened. A warning for flicking someone across the ear, who was acting in a dangerous manner? 6 cops to speak to a harmless parent, being a good parent? The police should be focusing on serious crime such as serious assults, drugs, burglaries and gangs, not taking cheap shots at parents being good parents.
The only positive that I got out of this was from a discussion I was having with some friends. They said the police may have deliberately sent so many cops to overreact to demonstrate how bad the law is. Cops trying to bring down the rule of law, who would of thought?
