You see a mother in a supermarket slap her child.

Vous voyez une mère dans un supermarché donner une gifle à son enfant.

call 911

Do not say anything, it could be worse for the child, and it could cause more trouble

Do nothing and hope that she doesn't do it often.

give the benefit of the doubt and leave it alone

i feel bad for both the mother and child

I go on with my business.

I raise my eyebrows and move on. No no, maybe i would steal a few glances in curiousity.

I would cringe and then give the mother a dirty look.

I would tell myself that I will never hit my kids, especially in public,

I would think it is not my business.

I wouldn't say anything.

I'd figure the kid probably deserved it.

It would be OK if the child deserves it. I wouldn't interfere.

It would bother me.

Look away

mind my own business, let karma come around

Nothing. (It's just one slap.)

poor child, poor mother.

That is none of my business.

think: thats horrible. maybe i should call someone. probably won't though. People should be nice to their kids

You say "That's a good way to raise your child."

c'est tout à fait normal

Ce n'est pas à moi de m'occuper de l'éducation d'un autre

Cela me fait de la peine, mais j'imagine que l'enfant l'avait mérité.

Cela ne me concerne pas.

Il a dû la mériter.

j'attends de voir si ca va plus loin

J'interviens tout de suite

Je dis à la mère que ce n'est qu'un enfant, de toute façon, l'enfant est sous la responsabilité de sa mère.

je la regarde fixement

Je lui dis que ce n'est qu'un(e) gamin(e). C'est à sa mère de le(la) serveiller.

je lui ferai la remarque en lui disant de ne pas répéter

Je me dis en pensant que l'enfant n'a pas de chance, mais que peut-être il l'a méritée.

Je n'ai pas à me mêler de l'éducation de son enfant, je ne fais rien mais je suis contre les châtiments physiques

Je ne pense rien de spécial, il faut connaître le contexte

je pense "pauvre boutchou"....:-(

Je regarde avec un air interrogateur

Je trouve ça inutile, je n'en ai jamais reçu.

l'humiliation est la pire des punitions, mais je n'ai pas à intervenir entre une mère et son fils.

Discussion

I have a question regarding one of the responses. What is a "boutchou"? Do the French use that word often? Is it a bad thing?

I think overall, we feel pretty similarly about the mother hitting her son- we don't think its good, but we aren't terribly inclined to do anythign about it (aside from a few people who intervened). The difference (to me at least) is that we thought a lot about how it was bad, and we felt like we should intervene, but didn't feel very comfortable doing so, it seemed like you felt like you shouldn't intervene because it wasn't your place to tell a mother how to parent her child. Do you think this is true at all? Does what I said make sense?

I think in the end, it doesn't matter so much what the French or the Americans thought when they witnessed the scene. Because ultimately, on both sides, the vast majority did nothing. Of course whether or not the people were sympathizing with the child or the mother matters to some extent, but the end result is the same. To the French students: Do you think that corporal punishment should occur in public, or should it be a private thing done in the home?

I chuckled when reading the responses that said the kid probably deserved the slap. I think that's a view that would be found more commonly in conservative parts of America, where household discipline and punishment is left to the parents. It hearkens back to the days of schoolteachers slapping kids' hands with wooden rulers. We're far more risk-averse these days, with lawsuits and child protection services standing by for anyone who dares. Is France quite this litigious? Are parents given free reign to slap their kids when they've done something wrong?

je pense que le fait que ça soit en public ou non n'a rien à voir. Si l'enfant a fait quelque chose de vraiment très mal et que la mère juge que cela mérite une gifle c'est à elle de décider...quoiqu'il en soit, on ne peut pas remettre une punition à plus tard. Cela ne servirait à rien. Si l'enfant a fait une bêtise, il doit le savoir immédiatement et non attendre d'être rentré à la maison et recevoir une claque juste pour être à l'abri du regard des autres...l'enfant ne comprendrait pas. Tiffany, pour définir "boutchou", c'est très difficile : c'est un mot affectueux pour désigner un enfant (le plus souvent un bébé) que l'on peut trouver mignon...

Personnellement, j'ai déjà intervenu dans une situation semblable au Québec (Canada). Je me suis écouté comme individu et je crois que c'était la chose à faire. Je me suis seulement interposé entre les deux en demandant pourquoi il faisait ça (en parlant du père). Il était encore plus furieux et m'a même pris par le collet. Mais de toute façon il ne pouvait pas me touché car c'est lui qui aurait prouvé son comportement violant.

Je crois qu'il est du devoir à tous de réagir car sinon, nous approuvons ce geste. Il y a d'autres moyens plus intelligent pour les parents de faire passer leurs messages. De plus, je suis aussi contre la violance verbale.

Les personnes qui font ces actes sont selon-moi non-réfléchis. Est-ce que vous croyez qu'il devrait avoir des recours pour ses enfants ? Est-ce que les enfants peuvent porter plainte ou des témoins ? Est-ce que ce genre de mesures sociales iraient trop loin ?

Tanks for responding ;)
Matt

les français appellent "boutchou" un bébé mignon !

scuse... lol... Thanks ;)

I'm not in favor of violence, and I think there should be laws that protect children who are victims of violence at home. However this is not always the case, and sometimes a child needs a slap to remind him he did something wrong. In todays society kids are less respectful in part because parents don't impose discipline the way they use to do in the past.

In America, social services can intervene in favor of the child should the gravity of the situation call for special intervention. Unfortunately, I’m unsure as to what these limits are. What about France? Are there official governmental departments set up to take care of these situations? How are the lines of what is acceptable and what isn’t drawn?

To Mathieu, I agree with you in that I don't think parents should use physical punishment as a form of discipline. To me, it just seems so useless. What are you going to teach a child by hitting them? However, I don't know how much recourse children should get. I don't know if children should be taken as reliable witnesses or if they should be able to stand for themselves in court cases. Perhaps there are other means by which they could address their grievances.

This is not directly related, but I'm curious: is grounding a common form of punishment in France? In America, I think the most common way to punish older kids and teenagers is to tell them they can't go out with their friends for the next while. Is this done in France?

Oui, il s'agit de la punition la plus répandue. Il s'agit d'une façon régressive que je n'aime pas trop. Car je crois que cette solution aura un impact social sur l'enfant. Il ne faut pas couper l'enfant trop souvent de son environnement. J'aime mieux une approche positive qui vise à donner une gratitude lorsqu'il agit bien et la lui retirer si on veut le gronder.
Je crois qu'il faut toujours tenter d'aider son enfant et de le conseiller.
J'aimerais savoir comment se fait l'éducation aux enfants aux Etats-Unis? Comment les parents agissent? Est-ce que quelqu'un pourrait m'expliquer quelles valeurs leurs sont enseignées? Y a-t-il un ordre d'importance ou de valorisation, de la part des parents, concernant ces valeurs?

Have a nice day ! Matt ;)

Hi Matt! I wont be able to give you an answer about the education of children in the US but I can tell you how my parents raised me. I grew up in Bulgaria and both of my parents are Bulgarian. I was always taught to be polite are to respect older people. I had to always make sure I am not bothering others and to respect others' possesions and values. I remember that I didn't have too many toys and the ones I had I really appreciated. I feel like a lot of parents now buy so many things for their children that they become very spoiled and take things for granted. I believe that a child's mind starts to form very early and when you make him/her spoiled at early age, it is hard to make up for it when he/she grows up. Also, I was taught that education is important and that hard work is the only way to success...These are some of the things my parents thought were most important to learn!

I'd say parents are divided on how to "educate" their children. Some believe that a child should never be hit, spanked, or slapped. Others believe it should be incorporated in moderation. I think that's why most people decided to do nothing. America, and maybe France?, is transitioning from spanking being a common mode of child punishment, to something that is illegal and should never be allowed. As a result, we're dealing with people who grew up with a culture that is now considered illegal, so it doesn't necessarily seem strange or wrong to them. Child abuse, I think, is wrong, but I find spanking a child acceptable (in moderation), because I do believe that sometimes a child is too young to comprehend why something is bad, but they need to understand it is bad, and light slap brings that message across. Of course, it doesn't solve all problems, but if done right, once is enough for the issue to never be brought up again, and so, the child learns correct behavior without being hurt.