In Texas corporal punishment becomes child abuse when it results in substantial harm to a child As a practical matter in Texas that means a physical injury that leaves a mark like bleeding.

Is it illegal to hit your child in texas. Hitting someone over the age of 18 could put the assailant in court. Striking a child above the waist. Physical Hitting shaking kicking pinching slapping throwing hair pulling and burning the child with scalding water or other hot objects.

This is where many parents come apart on the issue of discipline. According to a 2014 estimate by Human Rights Watch Ninety percent of the worlds children live in countries where corporal punishment and other physical violence against children is still legal. So it isnt technically illegal to hit your kid in any state.

The Texas Penal Code provides a defense for parents charged with Injury to a Child under Section 2204 when the force was used to reasonably discipline the child. Spanking a child under 15 years old is a Third Degree Felony if the spanking causes any amount of pain. In Tennessee under a law called Haleys Law which many other States have also enacted inflicting serious injury on a child between 8 and 18 is a class B felony punishable by an 8-12 year prison term no probation no parole.

Children are still protected by child abuse laws that criminalize serious bodily injury. But what about the use of implements to discipline a child such as a belt or a switch as a tree branch stripped of its leaves is called in some parts of the country. The short answer is that spanking is not illegal in the State of Texas under most circumstances.

In this instance it sounds as though the hitting does constitute child. Using physical force to discipline your children such as spanking is generally legal in most states as long as its done reasonably. Spanking or paddling isnt considered abuse as long.

And when it may be illegal to spank a child in Texas. It might sound hard to believe but the United States does not currently have federal laws prohibiting the use of corporal punishment. The act of hitting someone else with a belt hand or other instrument is frowned upon and only allowed in limited circumstances.