Young Father Makes Facebook Faux Pas

I know that parents often struggle to raise their children in these increasingly complex times. It’s not like kids come with instruction manuals. But one young father in Chicago is facing some real trouble following what some say was a simple lapse in judgment.

Andre Curry, 22, was accused of binding his 22-month-old daughter’s mouth and hands with tape and posting a picture to Facebook with the caption “This is wut happens wen my baby hits me back. ;-)"

Now I do not condone abusing children, but I come from a different era. I grew up with crazy uncles and older cousins who made it a point to tease and traumatize. My Uncle CB would randomly grab kids by one leg and hold them upside down, all the while querying them on subjects ranging from their names, parents, ages, allergies and/or their knowledge of the ABCs.

The child’s mother and Curry’s attorney said he was just having fun. Curry’s sister testified that she was cooking and heard her brother and niece laughing in the other room. She also shared that when she went to investigate she saw the child covered in tape.

I saw the picture. That child was tied up like a calf at a Texas rodeo.

Don’t they have cable or an Xbox? Surely there must be other ways to amuse themselves.

Well, the judge did not find this to be a laughing matter. She found Curry guilty of aggravated domestic battery and aggravated battery. The young father could face a sentence ranging from probation to 7 years in prison.

The judge went on the say, "To use a child ... as a toy or a prop in an odd attempt at humor is conduct of an insulting or provoking nature."

Curry’s attorney thinks the sentence too harsh. He admits that his client made a “stupid mistake” but said he should not be charged under statutes intended for people who beat their wives and children.

There are several factors at work with this story.

First, we live in a “TMI” culture that is driven to share every thought and experience, regardless of how appropriate it may or may not be. This guy taped his daughter and took a photo because she hit him back. My mother once beat my sister’s butt in Montgomery Wards with a belt from the men’s section for doing the same thing.

My point is, back then we did not have a legion of folks with digital cameras and cell phones and the driving need to post every indiscretion on social media.

Second, the child is 22 months old and the father is only 22, which means he was barely out of his teens when he became a dad. I have been an educator for more than 17 years, and I can testify to how negligent that age group can be. I’ve seen what some of my students do to their book bags. I would be hard pressed to trust them with a sentient being.

Third, Curry is described as a good father by the child’s mother. In an age of deadbeat dads, we have on the surface a young black father who seems to be holding things down for his family and himself.

So the question is, how fair was this?

Do we condemn this young father to a life as a convicted felon, thus impeding his ability to care for himself and his family because of a momentary, albeit poor, lapse in judgment?

Is this a case of a bad father or simply a Facebook faux pas?