The Punching Parent

My local newspaper has a story about my nominee for worst dad of the year. One Juan Lopez-Alvarado was booked into where he belongs, a jail cell, with second degree cruelty to a juvenile, after police say he punched his 14-year-old daughter in the face, knocking her unconscious, because she was being disrespectful, according to authorities.

Lopez-Alvarado was arguing with his daughter around 11 p.m. Sunday at home about chores he said he assigned her when he got angry and began punching her in the face. The girl lost consciousness and when deputies arrived, they found her hysterically crying on the sidewalk outside the residence. She was bleeding from both her nose and mouth. Deputies at first suspected the girl's jaw and nose might be broken because she couldn't close her mouth and her nose looked disfigured. Doctors later determined she had a concussion, bruising and cuts to her face but no broken bones. Bully dad admitted hitting his daughter, telling investigators he did so because she would not listen. Wow! I thought it was the job of teens to sometimes not listen to their parents. Isn't that the normal learning curve for kids?

Well, at least the punching dad didn't shoot her, but then there is still time for that, I suppose. Obviously, the judge in this case needs to have Lopez evaluated for psychological problems and be given an IQ test to determine if either of those factors explains his bizarre behavior. I wonder too what less the girl learned from this. Will she have learned to also use the knockout punch for her own future children? What does this and the many other examples of parenting dysfunction that we see say about the future of society?

A child is spoiled by lack of genuine parental involvement.  Nothing gets spoiled by love.  Lack of consequences for any behavior whatsoever is not love. But violence is not discipline. Good behavior is most often learned from what the parent shows the child through the parent's behavior. Unfortunately, Lopez-Alvarado has already shown his daughter several lessons that tell her he is a bully, is ignorant, and that he is unworthy to be around any child, much less parent one. The punching parent is in jail but I doubt if he will punch anyone there. The inmates are not 14 year old girls.