Aisha Bowen Caught on Cell Phone Video for Beating Son
In Florida, Aisha Brown, 18 was arrested for striking her then 10-month old son several times before picking him by his arm and carrying him to bed. Bowen’s roommate recorded the incident with his cell phone and took it to police.
Kudos for the roommate!
Bowen told police that she hit her son for knocking over a hot plate of spaghetti. But she says it was far from abuse. She says she grabbed him by his arm and smacked his butt.
The Department of Children and Families spent the past two months investigating the case, and finally arrested Bowen at her day care job at Kids Zone Daycare Center . It’s not clear if the daycare center management knew she was being investigated. But doesn’t it seem odd that they let Bowen continue working even though she was being investigated for child abuse?
If I had a child at Kids Zone, I’d be pissed.
Bowen’s son, now over a year old, is living with relatives. A judge has ruled that she can see him if her relatives let her.
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44 opinions for Aisha Bowen Caught on Cell Phone Video for Beating Son
rockdoll_71
Jan 26, 2008 at 4:26 pm
It’s scary that this type of person was working at a Day Care center. If I had a child at the facility where she worked and I knew that they continued to let her stay there knowing that she had child abuse charges against her, I would be VERY upset.
Good for the roomate. We need more people like her who aren’t afraid to get involved.
onthegowith5xy
Jan 26, 2008 at 5:49 pm
I just watched the interveiw of her and it blows my mind that she does not think that “beating” the butt of a 10 month old is abuse! A 10 month old is not going to understand that! How is a BABY that age going to know not to touch a plate?????? And hitting him is only going to show him that mommy is angry! This makes me so mad! I can’t believe this woman, I’m sorry GIRL worked with children daily! She obviously has anger issues and has no idea how to control herself!!!! I hope that little boy is in good hands.
sfdude_2008
Jan 26, 2008 at 10:58 pm
OMG, another “f**k you” look on her face! Now look at this girl! Can you imagine what her angry “f**k you” face looks like? *shudders* Poor baby must’ve been terrified! Babies are so helpless! That gal doesn’t deserve the chance to see him ever again!
radmila
Jan 27, 2008 at 10:00 am
People are under the mistaken impression that charges are readily available to employers.
They are not.
The Daycare Centre management might very well have found out when the rest of us did.
It’s also not so easy to fire someone who hasn’t been convicted.
If I were the manager of that daycare, immediate suspension would be in order..and then a tough waiting period and decision about what to do while you pay your employee to wait around for the trial.
You can’t just fire someone because they were charged with something. Last time I checked, you were innocent until proven guilty.
Do we know if the roommate had an axe to grind?
Has this woman ever done anything at work to support the allegation?
Daycare Centres generally don’t have staff just sitting around alone with children…they are a witness to each other.
I know it’s typical for us to jump to conclusions when it’s child abuse, but there are a lot of questions that I would want answered before I crucified her.
Any one of us could be accused of something and found ourselves tried and convicted before any facts came out in the open…and believe me that if the charges are dropped due to lack of evidence, no one will give a crap about it.
onthegowith5xy
Jan 27, 2008 at 11:04 am
She admitted on camera to “beating his butt and picking him up by the arm and carrying him to his bed.” I’m sorry but to me, that right there is abuse. He was 10 MONTHS OLD!!!! How was he supposed to know that the plate was hot or that it had food on it??? I could understand it if he was 6 or 7 or something but even then, children make mistakes and do NOT deserve to be “beat on the butt” for it! He did not deserve to be hit for that, or for anything! He is just a BABY!! She obviously has anger issuses and does not know how to controll her temper, she does not need to be working with children.
radmila
Jan 27, 2008 at 11:14 am
Jesus Christ…no one said that the child “deserved” it.
What I was pointing out is that it’s not so easy to fire someone who has only been charged.
She needs to be convicted in order for her employer to do something about it.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to fire someone nowadays if it isn’t a private business?
onthegowith5xy
Jan 27, 2008 at 11:30 am
I never said that you said he deserved it! I was just pointing out that she admitted doing it. So most likely she will be convicted. I would hope so anyway. Either way she should not be working with children if she cannot control her temper!! I would hate to think what she would have done if the child would have done something worse!
rockdoll_71
Jan 27, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I agree with onthegowith5. If I had hired this woman, I would have put her on suspension, pending the outcome of the investigation. She had no business whatsoever working with children. She obviously has anger management problems.
radmila
Jan 27, 2008 at 2:12 pm
rockdoll.
I was the one who said I’d put her on suspension pending the outcome of the trial.
rockdoll_71
Jan 27, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Radmilla, I know you are the one who said that and I can still agree with Onthegowith5. Is that ok with you?
radmila
Jan 27, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Listen.
I’m a little sensitive about this sort of thing because I’ve seen someone’s life ruined over accusations that were overblown by media and observers.
I’m not so quick to convict…but, my point has more to do with how hard it is to fire someone on speculation.
Every person should have the right to explain themselves before we jump all over them.
She’s 18…maybe she doesn’t know any better.
I don’t know.
But, I’m not crucifing her until I get more information.
onthegowith5xy
Jan 27, 2008 at 3:57 pm
If she doesn’t know any better then she shouldn’t have a kid in the first place!!!!!!!! Children are NOT toys nor experiments! Like I said she admitted to beating the butt of a 10 month old baby! That right there is reason enough to convict her!
radmila
Jan 27, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I’m the first one to say that teen mothers are something that shouldn’t exist…but they do…and they come from backgrounds that you and me would cringe to hear about.
If this is convictible, maybe this girl will smarten up…if not, she’s a statistic, like so many others.
Listen, is it so wrong to wait a minute before we all beat her down?
rockdoll_71
Jan 27, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Right, Onthegowith5. She’s really a kid herself but that’s the choice that you make when you have unprotected sex. These young niave girls think that they are all grown up until they see what the reality of motherhood is really like. Like I always say, you choose the action, you choose the consequence. Our judicial system is much too lenient on offenders when it comes to children. It’s almost as if they are saying that children don’t matter. It’s sad and it’s wrong.
Radmilla, I appreciate your stance. You have the right to your opinion but remember, we also have the right to ours. Maybe she doesn’t know any better. All the more reason to keep her from working around children. I don’t know if you have kids but when you do, you see everything differently. Like I said before, if I were a mom with a child at that daycare and I found out that they were aware of these charges and didn’t fire her, I would be very upset.
radmila
Jan 27, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Yes..I agree.
I work with these women…teen moms.
I agree…I get angry, and I certainly would”t want her working with children as well. The whole issue is convoluded…none of it is cut and dried.
From the employer to the girl to the child.
I certainly didn’t intend to anger anyone with my opinion…I’m just rushing to judgement on this because I’ve met some women in crisis, teen moms and uneducated women who deserve a chance to prove themselves as human.
At 18, I think perhaps this girl might deserve an opportunity to prove herself as deserving of her child.
She did choose to work with children after all.
I dunno, maybe my weakness is that I’m not that quick to judge.
It only takes one person to take you down…innocent or guilty…I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes.
onthegowith5xy
Jan 27, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Exactly! She made her bed and she needs lie in it! I too would be furious if I had a child at that daycare center! Infact if they didn’t fire her, I would take my son out of there in a second!! She obviously has no self control.
rockdoll_71
Jan 27, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I could understand being cautious about judgment if there were no sure proof but there is! She was caught! She was recorded. What I don’t understand is anyone feeling more sympathy towards her than for her helpless child. She could have easily killed him. It happens all the time.
onthegowith5xy
Jan 27, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I agree Rockdoll! She was recorded and she admitted to it! I have no sympathy for her and I hope she goes to jail for a very long time because chances are that is not the only time she hit that poor little boy and it is possible that he will suffer emotional damage from it for his whole life. Child abuse is a very sensitive subject for me. My husband and I adopted my 3 nephews because my brother nearly beat one of them to death. It is 3 years later and my little Evan still suffers because of what that man did to him. Child Abusers should get the harshest punishment possible. I will NEVER have any sympathy for anyone who beats a child, no matter how old the abuser is!
radmila
Jan 27, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I give up.
rockdoll_71
Jan 27, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Onthegowith5, child abuse is a very sensitive subject for me as well because it took me 11 years to become pregnant and he almost died when I did have him. They had to take him emergency C-section. So, as far as the monsters who hurt children go, may they all rot in hell. I have no sympathy whatsoever for these people. Why should they get any sympathy? It’s the innocent that I care about.
onthegowith5xy
Jan 27, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Rockdoll,
We see eye to eye!:)
mowse
Jan 27, 2008 at 5:27 pm
To clarify, it was my understanding from the footage I watched in regards to this story that the roommate recorded it and then the cell phone ended up being resold to another individual who was the one who turned it in to police.
As far as this mom goes, what disturbs me is this doesn’t appear to be a Mom who lost her temper but someone rationalizes what she did, making it more likely that she’d continue to abuse her child should he be returned to her care. That being said, I do think whenever possible we should work at reunification of family. There are things available in the system such as In Home Support Workers who can give her the tools and support to raise her child in a safe and loving environment. Only when we can be assured he is safe in her care unsupervised should she have her parental rights returned to her and at that point there should still be a file open and unscheduled visits to check on his well being.
rockdoll_71
Jan 27, 2008 at 5:28 pm
We sure do! :)
Ihavekidstoo
Jan 28, 2008 at 3:59 am
Mowse, I agree preserving a family is a priority, but the TOP priority should be preserving the safety of the child, even if that means splitting a “family” and overturning parental rights.
Sadly, I have seen little evidence that ANY child welfare system in this country is really capable of making a qualified assessment as to whether an abuser is reformed, able to safely care for their child and should have the child returned to them.
Too often, they get it wrong, returning children to abusive parents who ultimately wind up killing the kid. I think it’s because the priorities of the system are screwed up, focussing on parental rights and the preservation of grossly disfunctional “families” rather than on the safety, security and hapiness of the child.
yoshi
Jan 28, 2008 at 5:41 am
Does no one else find it odd that the Ocala police have the only copy of this video and have repeatedly refused to release it, even to the media?
Ihavekidstoo
Jan 28, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Actually, I’m not surprised that the cops are not releasing the video. They’ve probably been warned by the prosecutor not to let it out because a good defense attorney could later argue that releasing the video was prejudicial, tainted the potential jury pool, tried the woman in the court of public opinion, etc.
If they’re holding back because the video is not as damning as they’ve claimed it is, a good defense attorney will release it as soon as he gets his hands on it (which disclosure laws ensure will happen).
loving_mom
Jan 29, 2008 at 7:26 am
Poop on her ugly ass corn rolled head!!
She hit her son becasue he knocked over a hot plate of food? Not acceptable. Around Thanksgiving my son figured out how to open the oven. I hate that I had to do it but, I used a scare tactic to get him to stop. I caught him one day climbing up on the oven and scared the living crap out of him. He now will not touch the oven, or anything around it. If I say “Caoleb hot hot.” He will blow (the baby sgn language sign for hot) get on his trike and go watch tv or play with his toys.
Sure there have been times that I have put my kids down for a nap when they are misbehaving but, never beat them and then drug them off like a wild animal. Even though they are wild animals!!
mowse
Jan 29, 2008 at 10:08 am
Ihavekidstoo, agreed the safety and welfare of the child should be priority number #1 and most definitely too often children are returned to abusive homes, sadly resulting in severe abuse and in the worst cases death. It hurts my heart every time. Although I think there is a failure of the system I also think it’s a system overwrought with high case loads, burn out and not enough foster families. As much as I would like to see more CAPABLE families opening their doors to foster children I myself am not at a place in my life/family where I feel prepared. That is part of my reason for making a point of looking at family reunification where possible, but it needs to be done effectively with the emphasis remaining on the welfare of the child. Sadly I think a lot of children are forgotten by society once they are removed from their homes and placed in the Child Welfare System, everyone breathes a sigh of relief and moves on but in the meantime that child has an entire new host of problems to deal with.
Amy
Jan 29, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Hard to say without seeing the video. Spankings are not illegal. Lots of people yank their kids around by an arm. People take diapered butts are an excuse to spank.
With all the spanking defending that goes on these days, how is a young mom to know how much or what age is ok? I bet she’s seen plenty of parents smack their kids her whole life. In that jail interview footage, she looks like she’s in shock.
She didn’t leave marks that I heard of. The hot plate was a safety concern. I’m sure she’ll have spanking defenders to speak up for her right to correct her child in a safety-related situation.
mowse
Jan 29, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Weird, I swear the version I heard of this story was that it was another individual who came to acquire the cell phone and turned it over to the police. It must have been a similar story to this one, or there is more than one version of the facts.
mowse
Jan 29, 2008 at 10:48 pm
I don’t advocate spanking as a teaching/discipline technique although I wouldn’t call a parent who spanks on occasion an abuser I just don’t think it’s very wise or that it sends the right message. However I also don’t call it spanking, I call it hitting because that IS what it is. I find that some people who advocate or defend spanking don’t want to call it hitting and that speaks for itself. I don’t think if she was arrested it was a simple spanking, it sounded more like she lost control (without seeing the footage myself) and was angry about him knocking over the plate and spilling the food not protecting him from harm. When my son or daughter came near something hot I told them firmly “hot” and moved them out of the way. Besides he was only 10 months old, most ones at that age aren’t even walking yet. I think she genuinely saw nothing wrong in what she did and she probably needs a lot of guidance and parenting classes but I can’t see excusing her actions.
mowse
Jan 29, 2008 at 10:56 pm
This link gives slightly different details. The roommate was no hero and never turned the video over but was someone else who later acquired the phone. In fact Aisha Bowen claims he yelled at her to hit her son.
http://www.ocala.com/article/20080120/NEWS/801200338/1001/NEWS01
Betty19
Jan 30, 2008 at 11:37 am
This is so scary. I didn’t know this girl well but I did know her. Its so weird when you see some one that you are aquainted with show up in the public eye with something like this. The scariest thing was I had tried to set up a playdate between my son and hers *shudders*
You just never know with people these days. Horrible thing. When ever I saw her little boy he was smiling and happy but when ever she picked him up he would cry. He even called other women mommy.
I am sort of both ways with spanking, I personally wouldn’t do it on a freakin INFANT! And I think any one who would should be locked up.
I am appauled at this…My son messes up all the time spilling food, I would never hit him for it. I do what a mother is supposed to do, I clean it up!!
Amy
Feb 1, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I find hitting a child in any way under any circumstances completely unacceptible. But I don’t get my way. Spanking is legal. Have we not all seen kids hoisted by their arm to be stood up for a spanking? It’s a very common move. And people do believe diapered butts diminish the ill. And spanking is supposed to provide an aversion for dangerous areas, like hot plates.
Sorry, but I’m with this teenage mom here. She’s a clue-free kid who can’t tell the subtleties to spanking. Who can? I sure can’t. She needs serious intervention and education, but I think all spankers do. Who can tell how far they go behind closed doors?
CanadianMom
Feb 6, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I am sorry Radmila gave up, she had some good points. I have noticed in the comments here, one abuse case is the same as all others in the sense that everyone automatically assumes guilt and jumps to arms. There’s always the corporal punishment angle (ie do to the parent what was done to the child) there’s the religious angle (ie so-and-so will burn in Hell, all children are miracles and blessings, etc.), and if you’re lucky there’s a rational open-minded person who can see thru their rage. No-one ever listens to them, though.
Now, I have spanked my kids. I’m not ashamed of it, I was spanked as a child, though not ever beaten or abused. There is a difference people. And I’m not saying every situation warrants a spanking. That’s a last-ditch effort, and it always works, but the most important part is, my kids still love me like I invented chocolate bars.
Now if some parents disagree with spanking, that is their right. But hearing about a cell phone video of a mom spanking a kid should not be as bad as all of you make it out to be.
I just admitted to spanking my kids up there^, just like hundreds of other moms in history, and hundreds more in the future, probably. Does this mean we are all BAD MOTHERS, and should “rot in hell”? Most likely not. There are some spankers who are also bad mothers, but it doesn’t mean all spankers are bad mothers.
Amy
Feb 6, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Canadianmom,
Good to hear your perspective. Truth has many shades of grey. I especially appreciated your analysis of the categories of reactions here. Makes me scared for this young mom. We’re going to make her a criminal, a villian, for spanking her kid exactly as she as undoubtedly seen done many times in her life.
I have to take you up on one of your personal points though. That your “kids still love me like I invented chocolate bars” is not a valid argument in support of striking kids. Badly abused kids also love their parents with great fervor. Kids love. It’s just what they do. That’s why cruel or sick parents can do such harm.
I don’t believe spanking in general “damages” a kid, but kids’ mind are as subtle and vulnerable as they are flexible. Do they get over it? Sure thing. But what message does it put in their minds? I’ve heard kids say some pretty icky things about their feelings and thoughts when spanked.
CanadianMom
Feb 7, 2008 at 9:32 am
Amy, I appreciate your views, I think you’ve made an excellent point about what kids are thinking and feeling after a spanking. They should definitely not feel fear, but they should feel something. I have always tried to keep anger out of the spanking (as with all discipline), and assure them that I still love THEM, but I don’t love what they are doing/saying .
Not all spankings are like Aisha Bowen’s, thats all I’m trying to get across.
Ihavekidstoo
Feb 7, 2008 at 10:52 am
Amy and CanadianMom, let me also throw in the observation here that Aisha Bowen spanked a 10-month-old. I’m with CanadianMom that spanking can be an appropriate and effective punishment - but not for a child so young.
In fact, the concept of “punishment” for such a young child is totally inappropriate no matter WHAT type it is because a baby that age has no concept of right and wrong, or cause and effect. You can and should try CORRECTION with them, but punishing them is a waste of time because they don’t yet have the capacity to comprehend WHY they are being spanked or yelled at or sat in time out or whatever you choose to do.
The point of punishment is to bring about a change in behavior - to teach a lesson. Kids the age of Aisha Bowen’s son aren’t yet capable of the higher reasoning required to be able to learn ANY lesson. So striking a child this age amounts to nothing more than abuse committed by an uneducated, frustrated and angry parent.
mowse
Feb 7, 2008 at 4:25 pm
In the case of Aisha Bowen, although I haven’t seen the video I am left with the impression that this wasn’t just a “spanking” as most would define it. First of all this is a 10 month old infant and to me that IS outrageous, if she feels a spanking at 10 months is normal and healthy discipline what kind of discipline will she think is normal and healthy when he is school aged. Without any other evidence of abuse/neglect I don’t think it warrants taking her baby away but she could do with some support and parenting classes. Again I am not a “supporter” of spanking as a parenting tool but I don’t believe in vilifying a parent who resorts to “spanking” when all else has failed. I do challenge any parent though who does spank to call it what it is, hitting, and see if they still feel “as” comfortable with it. I second what Amy said about children loving their parents even when they are being badly abused, they will love AND protect them.
loving_mom
Feb 7, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I do not believe in spanking. I try very very hard to find other ways to divert my sons attention away from what he is doing. My husband has “spakned” our son. Caoleb was almost 2 before he got his first little spank.
Even if it was no more then a true and real “spanking” what in the hell was she thinking spanking and grabbing a baby like that?
I have nothing against anyone who spanks their child. One who beats or “spanks” an infant….no respect!!
Amy
Feb 8, 2008 at 9:15 am
How’s she supposed to know 10 months is too young, especially with an older guy there telling her to do it?
We need spanking rules maybe: how many blows, where on the body, with what impliment, mitigating factors like garments, how the acceptible body part should look after the blows, all scaled for age of the child.
It’s a fallacy that you should protect your kid from your anger. They require authentic reactions to learn about people and relationships. You just can’t be mean in the words you use.
Punishment is not a good tool. Authentic repurcussions are. Seems subtle, but it makes a big difference in how kids learn. It takes a while for a kid to figure out that a punishment is an artificial repurcussion devised to be a deterent. Until they get that, they assume punishments are natural reactions: you are disgusted by them, you don’t want to be near them, you want to hurt them, they are bad, and so on.
Amy
Feb 8, 2008 at 9:20 am
She said “beat his butt.” That means a spanking in her neck of the woods. Actually mine too. Actually where I’m from, things like ‘blister his butt” mean a garden variety spanking too.
alovingmom
Feb 8, 2008 at 9:47 am
I’ve spanked my kids maybe 5 times ever (only for severe things so when it does happen they take it seriously) I think everyone should choose a form of discipline that works for them as long as there is no abuse involved. My point is I will tell my children “if I ever catch you doing that again I will beat your butt”, or “you will get the butt whipping of a lifetime” These terms are used very loosely by alot of people I know who are def not child abusers.
Amy
Feb 8, 2008 at 11:16 am
Was the spaghetti his or hers? Just wondering, thinking about how much she doesn’t know.
We’ve got a teen mom, employed, caring for her kid, disciplining him as she was taught, telling us how devastated she would be to lose her son, caught spanking him on video. So she’s arrested for child abuse. Based on all she knew, what was she supposed to do? How are things ever going to get better if we treat well-intentioned teen moms like this? We tell them “work, keep your baby safe” and then take everything away from this young mother because she spanked her kid.
We enjoy villians too much.
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