SPANKING AND ABUSE/NEGLECT

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry recognizes that "Children need limits and rules. There are many ways to give children rules and help change their behavior. Examples include positive reinforcement, time-out, taking away of privileges, and physical punishment. Physical punishment, sometimes called corporal punishment, is anything done to cause pain or discomfort in response to your child's behaviors."

When does such physical punishment constitute abuse or neglect?

MATTER OF GRAYSON S., 2022 NY Slip Op 5649 - NY: Appellate Div., 4th Dept. 2022:

"We nonetheless agree with the father on the merits that, "[a]lthough a single incident may sometimes suffice to sustain a finding of neglect . . ., the record does not support such a finding here" (Matter of Allyssa O. [Edward N.], 132 AD3d 768, 769 [2d Dept 2015]). In particular, we conclude that, "[g]iven the age of the subject child, the provocation, and the dynamics of the incident, the [father's] act against [the child] did not constitute neglect" (id.). The record establishes that, during the course of a multi-person melee that included the 15-year-old sister beating up the 18-year-old daughter of the father's girlfriend, the 14-year-old child threw a rock at the vehicle causing the window to break, to which provocation the father instantly reacted by striking the child once either in the face or the back of the head (cf. Matter of Kayla K. [Emma P.-T.], 204 AD3d 1412, 1413 [4th Dept 2022]). Petitioner presented no evidence that the child sustained any injury or required medical treatment as a result of the single strike by the father during the altercation, and the police who investigated the incident did not file any charges (see Matter of Christian O., 51 AD3d 402, 402-403 [1st Dept 2008]). Moreover, petitioner "presented no [competent] proof of a pattern of excessive force by the father; indeed, the proof establishes that this was a single, isolated incident" (Matter of Stephanie K. [James K.] [appeal No. 2], 1 AD3d 939, 940 [4th Dept 2003]). Consequently, even though the court properly drew the strongest possible negative inference against the father after he failed to appear or testify at the fact-finding hearing (see Matter of Rashawn J. [Veronica H.-B.], 159 AD3d 1436, 1437 [4th Dept 2018]), the evidence presented by petitioner established nothing more than "an isolated incident, and `[w]hile losing one's temper does not excuse striking and [potentially] injuring one's child, one such event does not necessarily establish . . . neglect'" (Christian O., 51 AD3d at 403). We thus conclude that petitioner failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the father neglected the child by virtue of the single incident at issue here (see Matter of Israel S. [Khadine S.], 156 AD3d 889, 889-890 [2d Dept 2017]; Allyssa O., 132 AD3d at 769; Matter of Corey Mc. [Tanya Mc.], 67 AD3d 1015, 1015-1016 [2d Dept 2009]; Christian O., 51 AD3d at 402-403; Matter of Amanda E., 279 AD2d 917, 918 [3d Dept 2001]; see generally Damone H., Jr., 156 AD3d at 1437-1438)."