Tough Love
May 8, 2009 6:27 AM Subscribe
How could it be that take-your-child-to-work-day would lead to children being shocked with stun guns at three Florida prisons? (what-digby-said-filter)
Frank Gonzalez, the owner of Self-Defense USA, a large stun gun company in San Diego, describes the 50,000-volt shock as "similar to grabbing a live wire in your house with a wet hand — like a hard punch in the stomach with the added trauma of electricity running through your body."One of the facilities where visiting children were demonstrated upon is a prison for juvenile offenders.
This post was deleted for the following reason: This is fucked up, but we've had no shortage of idiots-with-tazers threads and I'm not sure where this is supposed to go other than "it is bad to taze children!", which, yeah. -- cortex
Is it Ghostbusters 2?
posted by DU at 6:31 AM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by DU at 6:31 AM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
Wow. One is an outlier. You know, "This veteran officer displayed poor judgment in this particular instance." Three places is starting to sound like a Problem.
"the children, who are between the ages of 8 and 14 ..." indicates that this isn't just a set of nearly adult teens. Zapping an eight year old. Nice.
posted by adipocere at 6:35 AM on May 8, 2009
"the children, who are between the ages of 8 and 14 ..." indicates that this isn't just a set of nearly adult teens. Zapping an eight year old. Nice.
posted by adipocere at 6:35 AM on May 8, 2009
Oh, Florida. Every day you give me a good reason to move away from you. And then, once in a while, you give me something so insane, I'd have to be nuts to live here another day longer.
I have got to get the hell out of this backwater.
posted by grubi at 6:35 AM on May 8, 2009
I have got to get the hell out of this backwater.
posted by grubi at 6:35 AM on May 8, 2009
Obligatory link of Rick Sanchez being shocked with a stun gun.
posted by joe vrrr at 6:36 AM on May 8, 2009
posted by joe vrrr at 6:36 AM on May 8, 2009
the point being that if a bunch of visiting children are tazed it's just a bone-headed security guard, but if it happens at three separate facilities then we know that it is socially acceptable to electrically shock an 8 year old....nice country we have hear.
(as far as i can tell, the difference between the EID and the tazer is that the tazer shoots it's electrodes at the victim)
posted by geos at 6:43 AM on May 8, 2009
(as far as i can tell, the difference between the EID and the tazer is that the tazer shoots it's electrodes at the victim)
posted by geos at 6:43 AM on May 8, 2009
That's some fine police work there, Lou. So, the Florida Department of Corrections considered "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day" a good idea? Brilliant!
posted by PhillC at 6:50 AM on May 8, 2009
posted by PhillC at 6:50 AM on May 8, 2009
(the other point being that if we as a society think it's acceptable, maybe even funny, for people to be tortured in prison, it isn't surprising at all that we would torture foreigners suspected of terrorism)
posted by geos at 6:51 AM on May 8, 2009
posted by geos at 6:51 AM on May 8, 2009
also, one of the children tazed WAS THE WARDEN'S DAUGHTER! You would have to feel pretty casual about tazing people to shock your bosses daughter, right?
posted by geos at 6:53 AM on May 8, 2009
posted by geos at 6:53 AM on May 8, 2009
[A 12 year old girl's] mother works at the prison and gave permission for the demonstration, according to Foster, but the father, who is separated from the mother, did not approve and has sued.
I don't think it's an issue of being "socially acceptable," but thinking tazing isn't as serious as it is. It's just a bit of electricity, right? Rich Sanchez survived it, and so do the inmates, why wouldn't my daughter? She's a little trooper, just like her mom.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:56 AM on May 8, 2009
I don't think it's an issue of being "socially acceptable," but thinking tazing isn't as serious as it is. It's just a bit of electricity, right? Rich Sanchez survived it, and so do the inmates, why wouldn't my daughter? She's a little trooper, just like her mom.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:56 AM on May 8, 2009
Zapping an eight year old. Nice.
"Eight-year-olds, Dude."
posted by educatedslacker at 6:57 AM on May 8, 2009
"Eight-year-olds, Dude."
posted by educatedslacker at 6:57 AM on May 8, 2009
How could it be that take-your-child-to-work-day would lead to children being shocked with stun guns at three Florida prisons?
If you have to ask then you haven't been paying attention.
posted by Sailormom at 7:00 AM on May 8, 2009
If you have to ask then you haven't been paying attention.
posted by Sailormom at 7:00 AM on May 8, 2009
I was hit with a stun gun in the leg at a friends house (whose parents both happened to be cops) when I was 14 or so. I don't remember it as hurting much worse than a pretty hard punch, though it was kind of hard to walk for a little while after that.
No way should an adult be doing that to children though.
posted by empath at 7:02 AM on May 8, 2009
No way should an adult be doing that to children though.
posted by empath at 7:02 AM on May 8, 2009
I don't think it's an issue of being "socially acceptable," but thinking tazing isn't as serious as it is. It's just a bit of electricity, right? Rich Sanchez survived it, and so do the inmates, why wouldn't my daughter? She's a little trooper, just like her mom.
nope. if the boss's daughter comes in for take-your-kid-to-work-day there is no way i'm going to do anything remotely painful to her.... unless we both think that inflicting pain on her will teach her some moral lesson.
posted by geos at 7:05 AM on May 8, 2009
nope. if the boss's daughter comes in for take-your-kid-to-work-day there is no way i'm going to do anything remotely painful to her.... unless we both think that inflicting pain on her will teach her some moral lesson.
posted by geos at 7:05 AM on May 8, 2009
I think prison guard Charles Graner (of Abu Ghraib infamy) summed up the sadistic attitude of corrections officers pretty well when he said "The Christian in me says it's wrong. But the corrections officer says 'I love to make a grown man piss on himself."
posted by TedW at 7:05 AM on May 8, 2009
posted by TedW at 7:05 AM on May 8, 2009
I thought the big selling point for the police force to carry tazers is that they are an alternative to using deadly force. As such, I would think they should be handled in the same manner. You wouldn't offer to strike a kid with a billy club so he knows what it feels like (I'd hope), so why do the same with a tazer?
posted by Dr-Baa at 7:05 AM on May 8, 2009
posted by Dr-Baa at 7:05 AM on May 8, 2009
I was hit with a stun gun in the leg at a friends house (whose parents both happened to be cops) when I was 14 or so. I don't remember it as hurting much worse than a pretty hard punch, though it was kind of hard to walk for a little while after that.
the difference is that if someone had punched you in the leg, they would have felt it too...
posted by geos at 7:07 AM on May 8, 2009
the difference is that if someone had punched you in the leg, they would have felt it too...
posted by geos at 7:07 AM on May 8, 2009
The awesome part of this is that "Take Your Loinspawn to Work Day" is usually supposed to be a chance for kids to experience a parent's job up close and to imagine themselves doing it. Back when this was primarily for little girls, it helped them to aspire to professions that weren't usually pursued by women.
In Florida, though, we get a double turn. First, it's "Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day", which pretty much obviates the whole point of exercise. And then, it becomes, not a chance to model your behavior on mommy or daddy, but a cautionary tale not to wind up like the children that mommy and daddy lock up. And, brilliantly in this case, the whole emulation angle is reduced to twitching on the floor and screaming while 50,000 volts of justice course through your body.
Great job, guys.
posted by felix betachat at 7:08 AM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
In Florida, though, we get a double turn. First, it's "Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day", which pretty much obviates the whole point of exercise. And then, it becomes, not a chance to model your behavior on mommy or daddy, but a cautionary tale not to wind up like the children that mommy and daddy lock up. And, brilliantly in this case, the whole emulation angle is reduced to twitching on the floor and screaming while 50,000 volts of justice course through your body.
Great job, guys.
posted by felix betachat at 7:08 AM on May 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
How could it be that take-your-child-to-work-day would lead to children being shocked with stun guns at three Florida prisons?
I think this is one of those things where the answer is already present in the question. Waiting.
posted by regicide is good for you at 7:08 AM on May 8, 2009
I think this is one of those things where the answer is already present in the question. Waiting.
posted by regicide is good for you at 7:08 AM on May 8, 2009
« Older Trompe-l'œil Box Boy | He ain't heavy, he's my guitar ... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by orville sash at 6:30 AM on May 8, 2009