A child was beaten with stinging nettles. The child had their arms erupt into a rash. Is this act considered child abuse since the rash went away leaving no scars?
Answers (3)
Everybody needs to get in touch with reality. Beating children is only done in certain cultures. For example, some American Indian tribes hit a boy exactly four times, in the ceremony when he comes of age. Other tribes do not hit children at all, and they are astounded to see white people smack their kids. In Israelite culture, beating children was so common that the bible dismisses the practice as "stripes of children".
Bottom line: If you love a kid, it doesn't make much difference if you beat him or not. If you don't love a kid, it doesn't make much difference if you beat him or not. The notion of "child abuse" is a bit of insanity made up by modern people. Almost all children get abused one way or another, and almost all of them grow up to be fairly normal and productive citizens.
Yes, this is definitely child abuse. Hurting the child in any way is unacceptable, whether it leaves scars or not. Most people now don't take to beating their children anymore, a few smacks out of anger is understandable, but constant beating with tools is more or less connected to child abuse. You should consider calling the police if you see anything similar happening, child abuse is a crime.