It is hard to resist a Florida joke here but really, it is a wonderful state ... for the most part. What is truly amazing is not that dozens of children were tazered in the same state, nor that it was all on the same day, nor that some of them were also tear gassed. No, what is amazing is that this was done almost entirely with parental consent - and on take-your-child-to-work day no less.
Children held hands so that 50,000 volts could pass through their fingers. Other children were exposed to tear gas.
A total of 43 children were directly and indirectly shocked by electric stun guns during simultaneous Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day events gone wrong at three state prisons last month. One was a warden's daughter.
None of the children required medical attention or were notably harmed, McNeil said. He said the victims, who ranged in age from 5 to 17, were all children of prison officials. In nearly every case, the guards who administered the "electronic immobilization devices" had permission from parents or grandparents.
Call me crazy, but as a kid I would've found this pretty cool so long as the taser was set to low and the teargas exposure wasn't too long. I'm sure they've all been exposed to this stuff themselves as part of their training and that they were careful while dealing with kids.
Same goes for guns. It's not always bad to let a kid handle a gun so long as there is responsible supervision and training
A police officer I worked with related a tale of how they would tear gas officers so they would know what it's like. He declined the experience.
I don't think I'd call it child abuse. Steohawk, parents do own their kids, don't they? Get over it. The attitude of kids not being "owned" is exactly why so many kids are out of control.
There are plenty of good parents, with good kids, who don't feel the need to resort to taking the position of treating their children like property. And no shortage of child abuse on every level as the default pattern of societies that treat children as "owned".
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of obnoxious children. But I'm not willing to go back the things were and thing that's an improvement...
Officer: Well we use these tasers blah blah blah
Kid:Can I try it?
Kid 2: Ohh Me too?
Kid 3 Me Too?
Officer: Umm I dont know
Parent: Sure why not.
Officer: Ok
Zap
Sounds like fun to me.
This form of argument is about as effective as "believing" your child does not have an undiagnosed heart condition before you allow him a shock to the system.
If you insist on the power of blind supposition with regard to keeping children from harm, please allow me to direct you to the contraceptive aisle. I KNOW condoms can prevent bad parenting.
Maybe those kids were tested for heart conditions before the tasering took place. You're assuming they weren't. At least the defenders acknowledged that they were making unqualified statements.