There are a lot of things a 10-year-old doesn’t like to do. They don’t like to eat vegetables, clean their room, go to school or do homework. A 10-year-old may refuse, throw a tantrum, possibly kick or scream. Kids act up.

But that doesn’t justify using a Taser to subdue them.

A 10-year-old girl in Arkansas was Tasered by a police officer on Nov. 11. The girl’s mother called the police when her daughter would not take a shower. The situation escalated, to such a severe magnitude the officer felt the only solution was to Taser the child.

A 10-year-old child was Tasered.

Dustin Bradshaw, the Arkansas police officer, was suspended for seven days with pay. But not for Tasering a 10-year-old girl, he was suspended for violating protocol. He didn’t have a camera on the Taser, which is required when using the weapon. The situation is currently under investigation. But the girl will face disorderly conduct charges as a juvenile in the incident.

The cop gets his hand slapped because he didn’t tape the whole thing. The girl gets charged because she is anti-personal hygiene and fought an officer who was given permission by her mother to use his Taser.

The mother is an innocent bystander, the woman who gave Bradshaw approval to Taser her daughter. The mother sat back and watched her daughter be abused by a law official. And for this she should be the one receiving some kind of punishment. Perhaps she should be Tasered.

Granted, the girl was being physically combative. But how strong and destructive was this 10-year-old that the officer could not handle the situation without electrocuting her? He feared he’d break a bone, he claimed, while trying to restrain her.

He feared he’d break a bone? Is he not capable of knowing the limits of his strength? If so, he is a danger to all Arkansas citizens.

As a society, we are supposed to protect children and the innocence of childhood. There is no innocence in this situation. The officer’s actions were extreme and inappropriate. It is never justifiable to Taser a 10-year-old child for disobeying her mother. The girl’s mother is an unfit parent if she cannot discipline and care for her daughter without enlisting the assistance of a policeman and his weapons. The girl is a victim and should receive help not charges and an eclectic volt of electricity to the back.