A mother in America has been arrested for the harsh punishment she served her son for allegedly fighting with his brother. Katherine Rose Ewald-Conner, from Minnesota, allegedly shot her son with a BB gun, leaving him bruised and resulting in her arrest later that evening.
According to media outlets, Katherine’s boys were wrestling when one of the children got a bloody nose. The mother said her son could choose his punishment for hurting his brother. He could either let his brother punch him, or she would shoot him with a BB gun.
A BB gun is a type of air gun designed to shoot metallic spherical projectiles called BBs (ball-bearing. BB guns are actually illegal in most states in Australia except Queensland and South Australia. In America, they are legal but not recommended for children under the age of 16. When shot with a BB gun, it can hurt A LOT and most likely will leave a welt or a bruise, especially if you are struck within close proximity.
Get shot or get punched
According to news reports, the mother was sick of the boys fighting. When one of them received the bloody nose, she dished out two choices for punishment. The first one was for the boy to be punched by his brother. The second one was to be hit with a BB gun by his mother.
The 9-year-old allegedly tried to run from his mother so her first shot hit him in the leg. The boy reportedly climbed onto the roof to escape but the mother followed him and shot him a second time, in the forehead.
Mum arrested over punishment choiceÂ
Police responded to a call about a shooting just before 7pm. When they arrived at the rural property, they found several people in the home as well as the nine-year-old boy with wounds on his forehead and thigh. The mother admitted to shooting him with a BB gun and handed over the weapon.
She was then arrested and charged with felony malicious punishment of a child and domestic assault.
Minnesota News shared the story on TikTok with commenters horrified by the mother’s actions. Every parent has the right to discipline their child the way they see fit except when it causes physical or emotional damage to the child. Then… no.
We’re not experts here but we would say shooting a child with a gun, even if it’s loaded with BBs, not bullets, falls into this ‘No’ category.
What do you think???
Harsh punishments backfire for parents
We’ve shared a few other parenting punishments that have resulted in legal dilemmas for the parents. A mum was charged with child cruelty and assault occasioning bodily harm after she left her 14-year-old daughter to walk home alone in nothing but a bra and underwear during a fight in the car. Read the full story here.
Another mum lost custody of her children after smacking her 10-year-old son with a wooden spoon after she discovered he had racked up a $600 credit card bill on video games. Read the full story here.
We’ve also shared a sorry of a mum who threw away the entire contents of her son’s room (minus his bed and a small kitchen) after he refused to clean it. The punishment caused a lot of controversy with some people believing it was way too harsh, especially for a five-year-old who doesn’t have the capacity to properly lean a room yet.
Others believed her tough love approach was the right one to take. Read the full story here.Â
1 Comment
As children if we persistently kept doing the same thing (in other words being defiant) one of our favourite toys would be taken away from us. Initially we were always told that something was not allowed and the reason clearly explained to us at least 2 or 3 times – the last one with a strict warning. I remember my bike being taken away from me for a week. I knew not to touch it until I was told I could.