Maybe if more parents put the fear of "a switchin" in a child's life, he would think twice about doing some of the things that are being done. I know it worked for me when I was growing up!

I agree Ted... Can't remember how many times I was sent out of the house by my folks with instructions to "git me a willer switch boy, I'm gonna tan your hide."..........................I do remember that what ever I had done, I thought twice about doing it again. Now a days they give a 10 minute "time, or there abouts.......A whole hour is cruel and unusual.

Ted and Willard, I don't have a problem with corporal punishment. The fear of it kept me straight and made me respect my teachers and elders, unlike what you see from many of the youth today. My mother threatening to get a switch usually caused whatever bad attitude I had to quickly go away. However, in this case I think we are talking about something more akin to what most logical people would say is abuse. As the police said, this was about going beyond what is appropriate (though many these days would try to argue that any amount is not appropriate).

Could be a little excessive on back and arms, but buttocks and legs no way! I agree with Ted and Willard, more of this type discipline is needed with today's youth. Every whipping I got growing up was rightly deserved. There is a difference between a whipping and a spanking too. You won't forget the reason for a whipping. I can't even remember the number of times me or my sisters has whelts on our legs and rears for some of the things we did. Some of life's lessons are hard learned. Right from wrong is one of them. This sounds more like a ex-ex get even spat to me.

Who is Archer to determine what is appropriate form of discipline? I think he is the same officer that pointed a gun at a vehicle with people in it, but when a complaint was file, he and his partner lied about it....Only later to come back and tell the truth.

I know Doug and his mother. He is not a dead beat father. He is in his kids life and tries to make them do the right things. If he whipped his son, you can best believe the son needed it! This is a waste of taxpayers money! So if Doug didn't whip his butt, then at a later age his son would be the headline of DD, then everyone would be yelling WHERE ARE THE PARENTS. Now you have this man that is trying to raise respectable adults and he gets put in jail under a $40,000 bond?

What was the bond for the man that was shooting on Moulton Street? Just goes to show you what a mucked up justice system we have....

Beat his @$$ again if he needs it Doug, I got your bond money!!!!!

He doesn't look remorseful either!

@ Mary....as well he shouldn't!!!

this should happen to more children. This is what use to happen. And the children thought twice about doing if again because they knew they would see those switches. This time out garbage these so called parents want to do now is a joke.

Look we are talking about open wounds that are bleeding and becoming infected. So I say No to any open wounds to any part of the body! I was spanked as a child and that work for me I in turn spanked my children be NEVER did I leave open wounds.

And just for arguments sake what was the child being punished for?

If they had child abuse laws when I was growing up, my dad would have 3 life sentences for my whippings. Yes, I had open wounds. But my repeat offenses made a punishment more severe. My mom would put oleo or butter on my wounds to help heal them . Do I hold this against my dad? Nope. He was doing his job. I did the dance of the 9 tails so many times, he had to buy a new razor strap a couple of times. I didn't hate him, I was afraid of him. But there was always love in my heart for him and I know that now. After coming to my senses, I think I lead a pretty straight and narrow lifwe. Who knows where I would be if it was not for him.

^^^amen Orville.....even the Bible speaks of "spare the rod, spoil the child".....as stated in many of the comments above, this is what's wrong w/ these children today. They are very disrespectful to adults and authority. Anyone that has ever had a whipping with a switch knows, as my mother use to say, "cut the blood". Did it kill us, NO!!!!! but were we looking forward to another one, NO SIR! I would have a problem w/ this if Doug would have beat his son w/ his fist, broken bones, or something of that magnitude...but because he whipped his son with a switch and it brought blood, NOPE NOT MAD AT HIM AT ALL. And DD should tell why this young man got a whipping! Bet when you find out, nearly everyone on here would have whipped his butt the same way!!!!

If you whip, spank or beat a child to the point you draw blood . . . you have gone to far.

Tony, anytime you use a switch, you will probably break skin. That doesn't mean that you've 'BEAT" this child! And if that is going too far, when we were growing up as children, a lot of parents would have been in jail. This has just been blown out of proportion. Here again, the government tells you how to whip/correct your children, but the 1st time the child does something illegal as a young adult, they holler WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?.......The parents are sitting back listening to the government!!!! next question!!!!

Does anyone know what the child was being punished for? I am not saying it was completely appropriate but he is 14, probably has an attitude and was most likely getting into some kind of trouble. Was the mother doing any discipline? Why had she lost custody for awhile? Many questions that can only be answered by those directly involved.

I am so sick of the police, government, and state officials sticking their noses in family business. I'm sure the boy was being disciplined and probably resisted his father and the whipping escalated. We got whippings when we were growing up (parents weren't afraid, then) and we're still living. That's why kids get into so much trouble now, because they know there are no consequences for their actions. I don't know all the circumstances surrounding this incident but I think arresting the father was wrong, the mother was wrong for reporting this. It should have been taken care of within the family. It seems the officials want parents to let their kids do whatever they want, without any fear of punishment, so they can arrest them or kill them later on down the line if they mess up. Life was much better when family problems were handled by the family.

SAD DAYS

I never said anything about sparing the rod however you still can't just keep on until you bring blood. And as for the so called theory of there's no telling where I would have been had I not got one is bunk. You do what you want to do because you have a desire to do i.t Not this I do it cause my moma will come and hurt me again crap.

I also don't think the kids today are much different than we were it's just that today we see them from rose colored glasses.

My Grandmother used aswitch on me when I was a child and she did it because her parents did her that way but after that day I hated her I never liked her even on the day she passed, I loved her on account of being my grandmother but I still had nothing to do with her. She left me property in her will and I never accepted and told my father to sell it and pay for final expences but I wanted nothing from her Nothing.