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Highlands Today

Surrogate Parents With Badges?

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

School Resource Officer Angelic Sanchez moderates the activity of students recently at Avon Park Middle School while in the cafeteria.

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By BRAD DICKERSON

Highlands Today

Published: February 22, 2009

SEBRING - Kids - by their very definition - will be kids, but eventually Mom and Dad will tire of their children's misbehavior and lay down the law.

Here in Highlands County, the law is increasingly being laid down by those whose job it is to enforce the law. In its simplest terms, police and sheriff's deputies are often asked to be Mom and Dad.

Central dispatch sends the call out to authorities as "juvenile trouble in progress." In the notes, law enforcement may read something such as a 13-year-old won't come back in the house, 9-year-olds who don't want to listen, a child who has his or her bags packed and is threatening to leave or a kid who simply refuses to get out of bed and go to school.

"Those types of calls have seemed to go on the rise in the last few years," said Capt. Paul Blackman, with the Highlands County Sheriff's Office's patrol division.

Sebring Police Officer Viviane Buck has had dealings with a mother whose children, she said, would run away from school during the day, as well as disobey in other ways.

"She's like, 'I don't know what to do with them. Why don't you take them? Why don't you do something?'" Buck said. "I've said, 'They're not mine. You're responsible for yours (children).'"

Abuse Versus 'Loving Discipline'

In a society reeling from a crumbling economy, everyone is doing all they can to keep their heads above the financial waters. Blackman believes there may be a correlation between a parent going light on discipline and the fear of losing one's job because of possible accusations of child abuse.

"The last thing they want to do is spank their child, have someone call DCF (Department of Children and Families) or call us and we go there and have to make an arrest for a domestic violence situation and then they try to go to work and the boss sees that they've been arrested," Blackman said.

"The first thing parents are going to tell you is, 'I can't afford to get arrested and go to jail. I'll lose everything,'" added Sgt. John Barcinas, HCSO school resource officer. '"So, that's the reason why I'm calling law enforcement.'"

Angelic Sanchez, school resource officer with the Avon Park Police Department, sees a difference between abuse and what she calls "loving discipline."

"I've gotten my share of whippings and they do that because they love us," Sanchez said. "They're correcting us, not because they're being mean and malicious."

Of course, as Sancehz points out, there are still those who do cross the line.

On Wednesday, Teresa Butruch, 43, of Sebring, was served with a warrant charging cruelty toward a child (aggravated battery) stemming from a May 15, 2008, incident.

It is alleged that Butruch hit the victim on the leg with a broom, as well as struck the child in the eye with a shoe and in the back of the head with garden shears, according to a sheriff's office report.

Is There A Middle Ground?

Florida statutes define abuse as "any willful act or threatened act that results in any physical, mental or sexual injury or harm that causes or is likely to cause the child's physical, mental or emotional health to be significantly impaired."

The statute states that corporal discipline by a parent or legal guardian is not considered abuse if it does not result in harm to the child.

"It's such a vague statute and it's perceived differently," Buck said. "What you might consider acceptable discipline for your child, somebody (else) might not."

If a parent does take it upon themselves to spank their child for misbehavior, there is no reason they should have reservations, according to Jeff Roth, director of the Children's Advocacy Center of Highlands County.

"There is nothing in state statutes that prohibits a parent from corporally punishing their child," Roth said, who admitted to having spanked his own children in the past. "If they are hitting their child with malicious intent to cause harm, that's abuse."

Different Strokes For Different Folks

Although there are any number of books out there on how to raise children, no household is going to adhere to the same guidelines of child rearing, including discipline.

"One kid, you might be able to just talk to them and they'll do alright and some kids need to be punished," Sanchez said. "It's hard."

In previous generations, a majority of children more than likely grew up in a two-parent household. Today, there are plenty of youngsters who are being raised in a single-parent home.

"A lot of parents are trying to compensate for an absent parent in the house, or they're not being as strong and firm as they should be sometimes," Sanchez said.

There is no standard set of rules all parents are given when it comes to disciplining children, but Roth said boundaries should be set at a young age.

"There's nobody that can be more influential to a child than their parent," he said.

No Arrests, But A Lesson Learned

As police officers and deputies continue their daily patrols around Highlands County, it seems a safe bet that they will continue to respond to these types of calls.

If a threat is made that law enforcement will be contacted and do show up, many of the children will get the message that Mom and Dad are serious.

Others, however, may have a different take on the situation altogether.

"Some of them feel betrayed that Mom and Dad couldn't handle the situations themselves and have to contact law enforcement," Barcinas said.

Law enforcement will also continue taking proactive steps in making sure children remain on the right path through life.

Blackman said he was contacted by a woman who asked if he could speak with her high school-aged son. It was a request the captain was happy to take on.

"He's not necessarily showing out and breaking the law, but he's starting to show those tendencies where he doesn't want to listen," Blackman said. "Deputies are tasked to do that all the time, to speak with neighborhood kids. I think that is an important role."

Highlands Today reporter Brad Dickerson can be reached at 863-386-5838 or bdickerson@highlandstoday.com

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