It's not well-advertised, but if a parent wants to disciple their child in Florida (at least Okeechobee but probably all over) with a spanking, they can have a police officer come and watch to make sure that it's on the up-and-up and no one's doing anything illegal. » 1/01/15 2:00pm 1/01/15 2:00pm

Dakota Nafzinger, age eight, was born with bilateral anopthalmia, which means he has no eyes. Normally he uses a cane to get around, but on Monday of this week, a staff member at Gracemor Elementary School in Kansas City took his cane away on the bus as punishment and replaced it with a pool noodle. » 12/18/14 12:30pm 12/18/14 12:30pm

Today, the New York Times ran a crucial piece about school-age girls and the massive disciplinary imbalances that effectively segregate them, both by race and also by skin color. Tanzina Vega's report begins with the case of Mikia, a 12-year-old in Georgia who was caught vandalizing a school bathroom with a friend.… » 12/11/14 6:10pm 12/11/14 6:10pm

You know how when you're late for something and there's a school bus unloading children in your way, you sometimes just have to be all, "Fuck it, I'm just gonna drive on the sidewalk from now on! Problem solved!"? No? Well, Sheena Hardin of Cleveland does. In fact, she was caught on camera bobbing and weaving and now… » 11/14/12 9:15pm 11/14/12 9:15pm

On Monday, Betty Smithey, the longest-serving female inmate in the U.S., was set free after spending 49 years in prison for the murder of a 15-month-old Phoenix girl in 1963. The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency determined that Smithey was no longer a violent or troubled woman, granted her an absolute discharge by… » 8/15/12 11:00am 8/15/12 11:00am

On Friday, Chinese officials released a woman who'd been sent to a labor camp because she'd campaigned ardently for harsher sentences to be meted out to the seven young men convicted of abducting, raping and prostituting her then-11-year-old daughter in 2006. » 8/10/12 10:20am 8/10/12 10:20am

The St. Kitts and Nevis team described sprinter Kim Collins as a "national hero" even as the team was expelling him on Saturday for missing training sessions. Responding to the punishment, Collins, the world champion back in 2003, said he was kicked off the team for leaving the Olympic Village to visit his wife, and… » 8/05/12 1:30pm 8/05/12 1:30pm

In a sort of surprising twist to the Pussy Riot saga, Russian President, shirtless outdoorsman, and Siberian tiger whisperer Vladimir Putin said that Pussy Riot's bandmembers shouldn't "be judged so harshly" for their impromptu punk rock performance in February on the altar of Moscow's Christ the Savior Church. Putin … » 8/02/12 9:15pm 8/02/12 9:15pm

Kids usually don't think before they steal, but you can bet 13-year-old Natia Wade never thought she'd end up standing on the corner of a busy intersection holding up a hand-written sign that read, "I steal from my family." Wade, who lives in Memphis, ended up there after she racked up a record of taking things—mostly… » 2/15/12 10:30pm 2/15/12 10:30pm

Spanking has long been part of the American parenting repertoire, and it's been the source of plenty of controversy. Any kid that's ever been spanked knows it's scary as hell, and, for that reason alone, plenty of parents refuse to do it. But there are still many that swear by it as an effective disciplinary tool.… » 2/06/12 9:05pm 2/06/12 9:05pm

A surprisingly high percentage of child sexual abuse is actually perpetrated by other children. But the systems in place for prosecuting adult pedophiles may not be appropriate for child offenders. » 1/09/12 10:20am 1/09/12 10:20am

Screaming at your toddler for finger-painting your computer won't deter future acts of deviant self-expression, but it will probably help her tell a more convincing lie in ten years about the missing vodka in your liquor cabinet. » 1/04/12 4:40pm 1/04/12 4:40pm

Sure, babies may seem cuddly and forgiving. But a new study shows these little disciplinarians delight in the punishment of those they see as evildoers. » 11/30/11 5:15pm 11/30/11 5:15pm

Sweden became the first country to outlaw physical punishment of children in 1979. Now, the first generation of Swedish young adults to have been raised in a spanking-free society is in its thirties. Contrary to what your cantankerous, defensive grandpa might suggest, the entire country hasn't turned into a bunch of… » 11/11/11 10:30am 11/11/11 10:30am

Residents of Brooklyn neighborhoods Park Slope and Sunset Park are growing increasingly concerned about the way the NYPD has been handling a recent string of sexual assaults at the hands of what appears to be a serial attacker. » 9/10/11 6:00pm 9/10/11 6:00pm

Jessica Beagley, the mom who videotaped herself pouring hot sauce in her son's mouth and giving him cold showers to get on Dr. Phil's "Angry Moms" episode, has been convicted of misdemeanor child abuse. Beagley and her husband, Anchorage police officer Gary Beagley, showed no emotion when the verdict was announced.… » 8/23/11 9:15pm 8/23/11 9:15pm

A new study shows that a whopping 60% of Texas students are suspended at some point in middle or high school — and those getting the harshest suspensions are students of color. » 7/20/11 3:31pm 7/20/11 3:31pm

Oy vey. A 48-year-old German man has been charged 350 counts of sexual abuse — including molesting his daughter from the age of 12, fathering 7 children by his stepdaughter, abusing his stepson, and prostituting out the two girls to other men. The kicker? If convicted, he faces, at most, 15 years in prison. » 2/16/11 5:23pm 2/16/11 5:23pm

Amanda Knox's lawyer thinks DNA evidence found on the knife Knox allegedly used to kill her roommate in 2007 was inconclusive. Experts will now take 90 days to review the evidence. Meanwhile, her stepfather says she's "doing well" but "apprehensive." » 1/22/11 1:40pm 1/22/11 1:40pm