Borough Man Allegedly Hit Kids With Paint-Mixing Stick
Jabiel Ruiz, of Hellertown, is accused of hitting two of his children with a stick.
A Hellertown man has been charged with simple assault and harassment following a June 23 incident in which he allegedly used a large paint-mixing stick to strike his two young children.
According to court records cited by the Express-Times, Jabiel Ruiz, of the 1100 block of Main Street, was arrested Saturday after a complaint was lodged with authorities by the mother of the two children, who are 5 and 6.
Red swelling was observed on the 6-year-old's right thigh, according to the story.
Ruiz allegedly fled with the 5-year-old and two other children he has with the woman, but was later arrested and arraigned.
He was committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $5,000 bail, the article indicated.
Mister Y
7:16 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Article did not say the reason he struck them- but I suspect it was discipline, which if the case, why was he arrested? When I was 6 years old, I was hammered regularly with a yardstick when I got out of line- and I am thankful my parents disciplined me when I was that age. I am a good, decent person with a clean criminal record who has never been arrested, unlike these namby-pamby kids of today who have never been disciplined once in their lives who run amok everywhere and are total uncontrollable brats......
Jessica Schwickrath
8:10 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
I agree Mr. Y. Every kid needs to be disciplined differently. I was never hit as a child, but I listened pretty well so there wasn't a need. All my mom had to do was give me "the look" lol. But some children need a more forceful
punishment and I can't see why this man should be in jail. Kids these days get away with too much and that is why we have such problems with our youth. I could see if these kids were bleeding with broken arms and legd, but some red marks?? Come on now. Poor guy....and his girl being te one to call the police...another problem with today's society. Moms and dads not sticking together on decisions. I guess maybe I shouldn't judge because maybe he was hitting them for something uncalled for like, I don't know, spilling milk or something, but if the situation called for it, I see nothing wrong with what he did.
Sam Hain
9:44 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
I'm just wondering a 5 year old can do to deserve being beaten with a stick? And if a paint stick is ok, can I beat my kids with a shovel? How about a good whack with a baseball bat or a tire iron?
Steve
9:57 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Some children will listen and follow their parents verbal instructions. Some children will flip you the finger at a very early age and do what they want and even a tire iron would have no impact. So each situation is different. It's so easy to say "what you would do" when you don't live a precarious situation.
Kelly
10:02 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Sam, I'd steer clear of the shovel. Paint sticks are the new wooden spoon!
Steve LaBrake
10:38 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Obviously we do not know all the details to this. My mother, an ex-nun, would certainly use an item similar to a paint stick, typically she would just threaten us with the stick, & we would "shape up". I even had a teacher that used a plastic bat across my behind one day.
I never hit either of my kids, but they certainly knew what they refer to as "the look" when I hit my boiling point.
As the story reads, I am shocked that someone would be jailed for using a paint stick on their kids. It made me realize, at a young age, appropriate behavior. But again, we do not know all the details.
Micky
10:32 pm on Saturday, June 30, 2012
When I was a kid and I acted up, I got spanked. If I name the person who spanked me, are the local authorities going to arrest them, and imprison them? This is unbelievable horse crap.
Sam Hain
9:07 pm on Sunday, July 1, 2012
So if my kids act up, can I beat them with a bat? You know, they're my kids and no one has a right to tell my how to raise them,
Mary Anne Looby
6:51 pm on Sunday, July 1, 2012
This has nothing to do with a kid being hit by his father. It is a fight between the parents. The police should have better sense. Jails are overcrowded, now this guy is locked up, won't be able to work, if he does, and it is the mothers fault. Wait till she doesn't get her child support, then what???
said nothing ever.
6:47 am on Monday, July 2, 2012
Hey Sam,
if you want to play sarcasm, let's play.
No lets just give the kids time out. In ten minutes of time out they will clearly understand that it's wrong! Wait, they did it again? Take their toys away! Still nothing? Ground them! Wait he's only a five year old. Let's try and talk some sense into them. Let's sit them down and tell them how bad they are and how it's so inappropriate. Why aren't they paying attention to me? I'm being reasonable.
Let's face it, we don't exactly know why the kid was "beaten by a stick" as you put it. But I'm going to assume that the kid was misbehaving. Perhaps the father does not know a better way to control his kid, and perhaps he shouldn't have slapped him, as he is 5 years old. But I'll tell you what. When I was growing up, I learned it was easier to stare at a wall for 10-60 mins than get spanked, with a belt, a hand, or a nice wooden stick I was told to go fetch for my punishment. I'm so glad because I am a better person for it today, maybe not perfect, but a lot better than many of the kids I grew up with who's parents talked, timed out, or grounded them.
I'm also sure that for some kids that works too.
Why don't we all sit the criminals on a time out or ground them??? Oh wait they do, it's called Jail and prisons, and last time I checked they are not very effective as most go right back after they get out.
I'm sure anyone can argue with me on these opinions but yeah... a little discipline goes a long way.
said nothing ever.
6:52 am on Monday, July 2, 2012
And where is a "like" button when you need one!
Steve, Jessica and Mr. Y. I completely agree.
And I do apologize for the sarcasm... these silly topics get the best of me sometimes.
Sam Hain
9:39 am on Monday, July 2, 2012
All beating a child does is teach them that violence is the solution to a problem and that might makes right. And I guarantee you most of the people you find in prisons more than their fair share of corporal punishment during childhood. I
said nothing ever.
10:54 am on Monday, July 2, 2012
So what you are saying is- If you don't physically discipline your kids then they won't be violent? How about contact sports? How about the media? Should you ban your kids from going to public schools and social activities that put your child at risk to being exposed to violence?
Sarcasm and sincerely I understand your point. But I respectfully (if you don't take my sarcasm to serious.) must disagree.
You see, what I'm trying to say is that back in the good old days, getting spanked for doing something wrong was acceptable not only from a parents point of view but most parents didn't ABUSE them like you see now-a-days with parents going over the top.
The other major problem is how the government get's in peoples lives. I recall there was a politician who said that spanking your children more than twice with an open palm more than half way your arm extension should be considered child abuse. This politician also didn't have any children and no experience raising kids. But she swore that she would never do that to her cats.
There is a fine line between punishing a kid for serious misbehavior, and then there is abuse for when they do something minor and you just don't have the patience to deal with it thinking that spanking will put them in line and they overdo it.
Lani
11:09 am on Monday, July 2, 2012
Maybe beating a child senseless with a bat because they accidentally spilled a glass of water (or something else extreme) only teaches them violence. But I can tell you I was more scared of the idea of a spanking, which rarely happened, then the idea of staring at a wall. And because that a spanking could be a possibility, I tried to behave my best. Where as if it was threatened that if I did something again, I'd have to go to the corner, well, my thought was "the corner isn't the worst thing in the world, and I'm not getting spanked, so whatever I did couldn't be that bad, could it?" I was spanked on the occasion, and can tell you I am not violent at all, and I never think violence is a solution to a problem. And, in fact, in my mind there is a huge difference between a quick spanking then violence.
And unless the man in this article beat the children repeatedly with a stick, until their legs were red, puffy and bloody, I completely agree with Mary Anne. This is simply a dispute between the mother and father.
Mister Y
11:24 am on Tuesday, July 3, 2012
There is a difference between discipline and violence. My parents knew the difference.