Police: Mom posts pics of son dressed as girl on Facebook as form of discipline


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WINTER GARDEN, Fla. ?

A mother and her roommate are facing charges after they forced her 10-year-old son to dress up like a girl to humiliate him as a form of discipline, Winter Garden police said.

Christle Prado and Keith Driscoll were charged with cruelty toward children and infliction of mental injury on a child, police said.

Authorities said police found out about the case after the boy's relative saw the photos on Facebook of the boy crying while dressed as a girl and wearing makeup.

Prado said Driscoll came up with the idea to dress him up like a girl as a way to discipline him.

Prado told investigators she went along with it because she did not want to cause problems with her living situation. Driscoll is also her landlord.

Department of Children and Families representative Kristi Gray said the photos were disturbing.

"It was clear to me and anyone else who saw these pictures that this boy was clearly distraught and fearful about what was happening to him," Gray said.

Gray said that kind of abuse can cause damage that lasts well into a child's life.

"It becomes mental injury when the child is traumatized during the event and after the event," said Gray.

When investigators went to the boy's house, he was in the yard raking leaves. Investigators said the boy was visibly upset.

Authorities said the child cruelty charge is a second-degree felony.

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I... no comment. There are so many wrong things here that the whole situation is laughable.

 

Maybe they should have beaten the crap out of the kid in order to teach him proper discipline.

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Weird.

 

But is it common for reporters to be holding & reading from their phones while they are presenting a story in the U.S.? I've never seen a reporter do that in AUS.

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Weird.

 

But is it common for reporters to be holding & reading from their phones while they are presenting a story in the U.S.? I've never seen a reporter do that in AUS.

 

Welcome to the day of the smart phone... everything including your script now on you screen! I've seen this happen a LOT in local news.. they use the phones now as a reverse communication channel to the studio usually... instead of a two way sat feed or radio

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Should have just whipped him like a normal parent.

 

This...  There is nothing wrong with a little bit of physical discipline as long as you don't get out of hand.

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So how long until newborns are entered straight in to facilities until they are 18? Obviously there is nothing the parents can do to discipline their children these days without it being considered some form of cruel punishment. :blink:

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So how long until newborns are entered straight in to facilities until they are 18? Obviously there is nothing the parents can do to discipline their children these days without it being considered some form of cruel punishment. :blink:

To be fair, there is more to discipline than just physical punishment. Loss of treats, naughty step etc.

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I'm all for disciplining your child, but I'm not sure I agree with the punishment here.

 

There are a few telling signs imo the quote "the mother, went along with it because she feared about her living arrangements" - as soon as you say "went along" alarm bells ring for me. Secondly, a kid who will go into the garden and rake leaves does not sound like a terribly naughty child, a kid that needs something extra then the normal punishments will not do something like that when told to. Lastly, why post it on Facebook, the kid is 10, he doesn't need to be anywhere near facebook. It's not like he had his own profile that it was uploaded to for his friends to see and punish him in that sense. 

 

There are plenty ways to punish your kid without humiliating or getting physical that work just fine, each kid is different for sure, but there are plenty methods.

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To be fair, there is more to discipline than just physical punishment. Loss of treats, naughty step etc.

My issue is that the word "punishment" is being made to sound more and more as if every parent is beating their children to within an inch of their lives or are mentally scarring the children in a way that they will never be able to be normal in the future.

A punishment happens when you do something bad, and you're supposed to be upset by it so that you know not to do whatever it was again. Someone decided that the above punishment was too unfair on the child, and I find that to be ludicrous.

EDIT: Although I do agree with Skiver that due to some of the words in the article, there may not be a complete story.

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My issue is that the word "punishment" is being made to sound more and more as if every parent is beating their children to within an inch of their lives or are mentally scarring the children in a way that they will never be able to be normal in the future.

A punishment happens when you do something bad, and you're supposed to be upset by it so that you know not to do whatever it was again. Someone decided that the above punishment was too unfair on the child, and I find that to be ludicrous.

There's also a difference between punishment and public humiliation, the latter being completely unacceptable!

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I'll try to rectify my position slightly as I realise how it may have come across.

Is the above a cruel punishment for the child because of the humiliation?

What about this kid:

0.jpg

Is that too far as well?

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I'll try to rectify my position slightly as I realise how it may have come across.

Is the above a cruel punishment for the child because of the humiliation?

What about this kid:

0.jpg

Is that too far as well?

Yep, also shows the parents cannot be bothered to discipline him properly.

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Parents using Facebook to discipline their kids again ...

 

Doing so show such a lack of maturity from the parents that it's no surprise the kids have behaviour problems. Parents acting like teens rarely have good results.

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I'll try to rectify my position slightly as I realise how it may have come across.

Is the above a cruel punishment for the child because of the humiliation?

What about this kid:

0.jpg

Is that too far as well?

 

Yes and no, the difference here is the kid is being humiliated publicly by letting others know what he did. However, once that day is over, the punishment is over. to quote an awesome movie

 

 

 

The Internet's not written in pencil, Mark, it's written in ink

 

What did this kid in the OP do then, put a dress on instead of his normal clothes?

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I'll try to rectify my position slightly as I realise how it may have come across.

Is the above a cruel punishment for the child because of the humiliation?

What about this kid:

0.jpg

Is that too far as well?

 

Discipline should stay at home as much as possible.

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Fair enough, guys. I see your point of view. I'll just continue to be glad that I'm not a parent and therefore not have to worry about what is considered abuse and what is considered discipline. The line gets blurred more and more it seems, to the point where the parent either has no control over their child or they are lead to believe that they have no control, too scared about the repercussions that could come back on them if they do anything.

It's an old argument, but the older generation laughs at these kinds of punishments. "Pfft, I used to get caned if I did something bad." Strangely enough, a majority of them turned out just fine.

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Welcome to the day of the smart phone... everything including your script now on you screen! I've seen this happen a LOT in local news.. they use the phones now as a reverse communication channel to the studio usually... instead of a two way sat feed or radio

 

 

Seems weird. Considering how straight-forward this story was I don't know why the reporter couldn't just memorise the details.

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This...  There is nothing wrong with a little bit of physical discipline as long as you don't get out of hand.

Oh ?  And who decides what is "out of hand" ?  Is it the same level for all kids ?  all parents ?  is it age specific ?

I realize things like this are completely normal & encouraged when one gets their instructions in life from a book that repeatedly tells people to murder their family members - but I am just curious where/how the line is drawn for you...

 

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