A Louisiana mother was charged with child cruelty after showing her son tough love when he broke into a neighbor’s home.
Police documents show Schaquana Spears struck her 13-year-old son with an electrical cord.
She told CBS News it was a belt rather than a cord. That teen, and two other sons, had visible injuries.
"I'd rather discipline my kids than for them to be beaten in the street caught in someone's home murdered…or in someone's prison and me having to visit,” Spears said.
The single mother was charged with two felony counts of child cruelty. She lost her job and custody of her kids.
However, many in the community support what Spears did including the neighbor who was allegedly burglarized by her sons.
"You know her kids done wrong and she spanked them or whooped them and I commend her for that.”
Others have questioned whether or not Spears went too far. The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services said "reasonable, constructive discipline is a healthy part of parenting, but it crosses the line into abuse when it leaves a child cut, burned, bloody or bruised.
