When is it OK to punch a child?

OPINION: When is it ok to punch a teenager? Not at school, obviously. The outrage over a bullying incident at a South Auckland High School where a 16-year-old was hospitalised is completely justifiable.

That punch has been widely called an ‘‘assault.’’ Fortunately it looks like the boy will be OK.

But what about a punch thrown by a police officer? At a 13-year-old?

The second teen-related story from Auckland’s South to hit the headlines in the space of 24 hours involved the cops being called an ‘‘aggressive’’ group, one of whom took off on his bike. A pursuit ensued, albeit rather slower than your normal ‘‘police chase’’ given one of the pursuing officers was also on a borrowed bike. The teen was caught, resisted arrest, and was eventually subdued, using what police have called a tactic ‘‘to get an offender to release their arm so they can be handcuffed’’. That’s the official police story.

Not a punch in the kidney, rather ‘‘a tactic’’. The whole thing was caught clear as day on cellphone footage.

A spokesperson defended the punch like this: ‘‘More often than not these videos will only show a portion of what has happened and not surprisingly rarely show the full circumstances, such as our officers being assaulted, abused or spat at.’’

Which is awful, no doubt. Nurses and teachers given the same treatment every day will tell you that. But it seems an odd way to defend a violent act by a police officer, who surely has the training to cope with that and worse, and stay focussed?

Note the statement also carefully avoids alleging that there was any assaulting, abusing or spitting in this particular situation.

There’s no doubt that police do an incredible job under pressure. They can and should be able to use force when it’s