There is a very, very fine line between disciplining a child and abusing a child.
It is so subjective, one can interpret a cane as disciplining, and another fellow can interpret a lecture as abusing.
Now, this is one case that has everyone talking: is this discipline, or is this child abuse?
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Or has the father simply lost his temper and crossed the line?
Video Footage of Daughter Kneeling While Getting Slapped Went Viral
Two days ago, a Stomper filmed this in the car park of IKEA Tampines on Monday night.
If you’re too disturbed to watch, here’s what happened:
A girl was kneeling beside a car. The man, supposedly the father, then slapped her so loud, the sound could be heard in the video. He shouted, “This is the last time!” He then said something that I couldn’t make out, and told the girl to “kneel down properly”.
Soon after, the Stomper stopped recording as the man seemed to have noticed him. After that, more people started to gather around them.
According to the Stomper who took the video, what’s not recorded was the man saying something like “’I love you, but you cannot say these kind of things to me” and “It’s no longer your mum’s place, it is my place.”
Kind of make you wonder whether it’s discipline or abuse again.
IKEA Confirmed the Incident
If you’ve been to IKEA Tampines, you’d know that other than it being free throughout, it’s gigantic.
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However, IKEA managed to discern the area as their car park (probably due to the “I” with green background pillar). They have since made a police report and would render any assistance needed in their investigations.
The video is, however, so disturbing to others that a person made a report to Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).
MSF Looking into the Matter
Both the police and MSF would be looking into the matter. So far, there hasn’t been any update from them.
However, of course, one would wonder: is this disciplining or child abuse?
TNP spoke to a criminal lawyer who said that the slap could be considered child abuse.
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And if you go through the comments in the Stomp video, most people lean on the direction of child abuse.
But this guy says it best:
Where does the “disciplining” comes into play when it comes to “kneeling properly” in public?
Because disciplining doesn’t require shaming. Just like what boss always tell the managers here: “If you need to redirect (i.e. scold) someone, do it privately. No point doing it openly.”
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