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ORANGE COUNTY — Orange County deputies said the mother caught on a surveillance tape power-washing her 2-year-old child at a car wash turned herself into authorities Thursday afternoon. Authorities have not released the woman’s name. Deputies said the woman, who is 5-months pregnant, used the pressure washer to calm the child down after the she had a temper tantrum. “She did indicate to us this was the first time this ever happened. That, she typically uses time-outs. She has used a spray bottle in the past to calm the child,” said Sgt. John Allen from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Child Abuse Unit. The child is being evaluated by a doctor, but does not appear to be injured. So far, no charges have been filed. However, deputies said they will make decisions based on the doctor’s analysis.
I had a shipmate in the military with an aversion to bathing. The crew took him to the car wash. Good Times.
Yep, she’s probably an atheist. Oh, no, I mean a Christian. No.. a Muslim. Dang.. there must be a religious angle here somewhere or it wouldn’t have been posted. I’ll find it… just wait.
#1. Floridian (see Banner)
The President said it was safe.
Halp! Halp! Power washers are dangerous weapons in the hands of terrorists. Call the police so they will arrest all power washers and I am safe again.
My home power washer has ripped the skin from my hand. These things are not toys.
I got grease on my hand once at one of these car washes and used the power sprayer to wash it off… it hurt like heck.
I’m a grown man and sprayed my hand, I can’t begin to imagine how painful it would be for a 2-year old’s skin.
Takes a license to operate a car, yet any idiot can be a parent.
She must be a Republican.
#6 – Takes a licence to operate a car, yet any idiot can be a parent.
My father told me that you can’t drive without a license. Upon further investigation, I discovered that he was wrong. In fact, all you need to drive, is a car.
I’m not unsympathetic to the “any idiot can be a parent” lament, but seriously, what law could you write that would 1) solve the problem and 2) still embody the principles of freedom upon which our nation was founded?
We wouldn’t have as many problems like this if so many parents weren’t afraid to smack their kids. But hey, if you’re using time-outs, there’s really no hope for you as a parent.
#8 I’m not unsympathetic to the “any idiot can be a parent” lament, but seriously, what law could you write that would 1) solve the problem and 2) still embody the principles of freedom upon which our nation was founded?
You don’t appear to be from around here. This is the place where the president calls the Constitution a piece of paper.
#10 – You don’t appear to be from around here. This is the place where the president calls the Constitution a piece of paper.
Well… It is a piece of paper.
It’s also the supreme mutha fukkin law of the mutha fuckin land, mutha fukka!
I learned that when Samuel L Jackson hosted a PBS special about the Constitution 🙂
Do people truly believe what they are writing? For those of you who advocate the lynching of this woman, I implore you to look at how you’ve raised your own child(ren). You may have never had to discipline your child and thus avoided the ugly public perception of “abuse.” The reality is that you may have “abused” your own children in a different way. Here is a list of items to consider…
– feeding your child soda, candy, foods high in saturated fats and sugar.
– allowing them to watch sexual explicit or violent content.
– allowing them to play violent or sexual explicit video games.
– allowing your child to be around tobacco smoke.
– consuming alcohol, caffeine, or smoking while pregnant.
The items above are acts that could result in the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health to be significantly impaired. Under Florida law, the items above could be interpreted as “abuse.”
Please read the entire story. The media is reporting the story that “Officials said the water shoots out of the hoses with a force of about 1,200 pounds per square inch, powerful enough to create the type of friction and sting from a rug burn.” However, if you watch the video you can see that the full pressure of the sprayer is not being used. In addition, it is also reported that “The child was examined by the Child’s Protection Team nurse practitioner and found to have no visible injuries.” Let’s be honest with ourselves here. In reality, isn’t this a case of the media exploiting a story for ratings? Does this even qualify as “news.” Are any of us better off now that this story has come out and we’ve spend untold hours discussing?
If this is going to become a legal issue, my hope is that the woman is question will fight this in the court of law. According to the definition laid out by Florida law, her “crime” doesn’t constitute neglect or abuse. Only article that may apply would be; Physical Abuse Citation: Ann. Stat.§ 39.01. Under “Harm”…Inappropria te or excessively harsh discipline. This however is a vague definition. In addition, Exceptions Citation: Ann. Stat.§ 39.01, which states “Corporal discipline of a child by a parent does not in itself constitute abuse when it does not result in harm to the child,” would negate the above charge, as it was already established in the examination by the Child’s Protection Team nurse practitioner that no visible injuries were sustained by the child.
This would be an interesting “story” if the woman sued the car wash and the media for “defamation of character.” It would be more interesting of the woman also filed a negligence suit against the car wash and the manufacturer of the sprayer, for not posting a warning sign up in regard to the danger the water pressure may cause. Can we all can agree that the negligence suit wouldn’t stand because no harm came to the child from the use of their product? Do you truly believe what this woman did constitutes “child abuse?” A demonstration of “poor judgement” maybe…but child abuse?
Honestly, haven’t most of us been sprayed by a hose before, either by our siblings or parents? Is it possible that the media and the public have slightly overreacted to this incident?
Maybe she doesn’t have any physical scars today. It happened two weeks ago.
It was certainly more than a mist. When mommy dearest sprayed her in the face, her hair shot straight up. If it was skanky reclaimed water getting into her mouth, nose and eyes, she’s lucky to not have gotten sick.
Let’s not limit the definition of abuse to only what is physical/visible. What about emotional and psychological wounds? The girl was undeniably terrifed and screaming. You can’t argue against that fact.
Her mother taught her a lesson to be sure. She’ll probably continue to use the “hose” as a threat whenever the girl misbehaves. “Hey, knock it off or you’ll get the hose again.”
Two year olds understand what love is. A spray hose to the face is hate. Teaching your child to hate and fear you will not get you respect. Unconditional love with loving (not hateful) discipline will get you respect. Mommy needed a timeout and her friend should have given it to her and taken the kid off her hands for a few minutes, so she could spray herself to cool off her own temper.
The woman needs help to learn proper and safe ways to discipline a child. If that’s all that comes of all this, that’s fine. But they darned well better check on that kid’s mental state.
Suing the carwash??? Get real.
You call this child abuse?
Copyright © 2008 Mother Earth Lover All rights reserved
I call it self restrains and keeping control on Niurka Ramirez‘s behalf!I watched the video of Niurka Ramirez spraying that child. I didn’t see one thing wrong with what she did. Ok , for those of you who feel that she did something wrong, let me ask you…….
Do you feel like she did something wrong, with the action she took, because of the kind of attachment that was on the hose?
What would you have done?
I can see where this paranoid and corrupt society would be able to imagine that Niurka had pulled the trigger and harmed the child by increasing the pressure of the water. But SHE DIDN’T! The pressure from the spray coming out when your not pressing the trigger isn’t enough to harm human skin.
I feel like Niurka was in full control of herself and the situation. She admits being a single mom. How many of you are or have been single parents?
Anyone who is dealing with the stresses of daily life to include temper tantrums (or sibling rivalry and all the other things that come with raising children) and not actually harming or putting the children in any real danger, while keeping control of it all , are heroes.
She said that her daughter had been throwing this tantrum for an extended period of time, while she was driving to the carwash. How many of you have ever had a small child throwing a tantrum while you were driving down the road?
Niurka held her cool, trying to calm the child the whole time, according to her own statements, and this is what it took to calm the child without harming her.
I raised three on my own. There were times when I was at my wits end. Water was one thing that I did use! It got their attention, the feeling of being wet really gets your attention when someone else has just wet you, without your consent or knowing it was going to happen. It works when used properly. And no one gets hurt.
SOME EXAMPLES
When there was a sibling rivalry going on, and there were many, and I could not get them to stop yelling at each other, running after each other through the house – with real intentions of doing bodily harm to the other, once when one of them was throwing a tantrum.
I would get a cup of cold water and just splash it on them. If they were in a rivalry I was able to stop them long enough to get their attentions so we could calm down, sit down and talk it out . Come to a happy medium in the dispute or find out what is bothering them and work it out with the love and teamwork it takes to have a happy loving family bond.
One of the kids (pre-teen) was throwing a temper tantrum in the kitchen. This one was about to get ugly! This child had lost all control of herself and was on the verge of total destruction. She picked up a plate and was getting in stance to throw the plate through the house.
I happened to be standing at the sink at the time. I picked up the sprayer, turned on the water full blast, aimed right at her and pressed the trigger. Bulls eye! I got soaked the back of her head and her shirt. She was able to stop the madness in it’s tracks. She didn’t throw the plate. She looked around the room. Realized what had just happened. Became upset that she had been “gotten” , placed the plate on the table and ran to her room. She was inside the room (which she shared with her sister) alone for about two hours . When she came out her whole world had transformed into the peaceful, calm, caring, loving person she really was.
One of my kids has a hard time with mornings. She was born nocturnal, runs in the family. She hates to get up in the mornings to do anything. If not constantly prompted every few minutes (for many years as a child) she would be late for the school bus, or what ever it was she had to wake for.
I would take a cup of water into her room and pour a small amount of cold water on her head. Not her face, but on her hair. I didn’t put her in danger. I didn’t hit her with anything. I didn’t drag her out of bed and throw her across the room, I didn’t yell at her. I didn’t harm her in any way. It didn’t take too many times of me pouring water on her hair before she would get up when it was time to get up.
Think about it.
How can it be abuse for a parent to do what ever it takes to keep the children in control of themselves, without harming the child or allowing the child to hurt themselves or others?
I look at it this way. I taught my children that you have to stop and calm youself, think it. Do Not allow anger to control yourself you control yourself. I taught them that teamwork only works when you work it.
If you feel I was a “Bad Parent” for incorporating water into a form of keeping control of 3 kids, alone, then so be it.
I can tell you that for the most part they didn’t turned out to be caring, intelligent, strong, independent and self sufficient people.
I heard Niurka say that sees how she “has made a wrong choice“. That tells me that public statement was just to please the public. I can’t see where she made a wrong choice, can you?
Sincerly,
A fellow Single Mom
Wfkait Cool, bro!
“said the woman, who is 5-months pregnant, used the pressure washer to calm the child down after the she had a temper tantrum”
As usual I am speechless, Pressure washers are not toys.
WOW people! I do call this child abuse! It is a 2 year old for god sake! Just becasue the kid throws a tantrun means lets go to a car wash and power wash the kid for punishment! Maybe talk to the child or ignore them in such a way while they carry on untill they calm down and thenm talk to them or punish them by taking something away or a time out or something. A 2 year olds skin is still so soft and can easily injured.
I do know what it is like to be power washed as I had it happen to me this summer. I was using it power washing the dog runs in the kennel and it happened right over the top of my foot and that skin is very soft and sensitive. I still have a purple scar from it and will probably for a long time if not forever. Let me tell you it is not the most pleasent feeling and I just could not imagine on a 2 year old. That is rediculous!!!