It's never an easy thing to know how to discipline a kid who's gotten into trouble. Some kids respond to tough love and harsh punishment. Other kids do better with encouragement and forgiveness. But whatever a parent chooses in terms of ways to respond to something like their child sneaking out to a party without permission, on thing is clear. If the punishment involves medieval armor, a beating with a tree branch, and a two-hour "duel," odds are at least one parent's getting arrested for child abuse.

In Washington State, a Thurston County couple is accused of beating their daughter and forcing her to fight her stepfather in a medieval-style duel.

According to Yahoo News, investigators arrested the 16-year-old's stepfather and mother after learning what had happened.

According to police, the teen was forced to dress in armor and fight her stepfather with a wooden sword for two full hours. Police also said the stepfather beat his stepdaughter with a tree branch before the duel even got started.

Investigators said the girl collapsed from exhaustion as she tried to fend off blows from her stepfather's heavy wooden sword.

The couple told officers they punished the teen for going to a party without their permission.

What would make parents act this way?

According to investigators, it turns out that the couple is part of a group of "Renaissance enthusiasts."

Those are the folks that dress up like the cast members in Lord of the Rings and run around public parks dueling for maidens, casting spells on each other and drinking fake mead.

Officers said the parents told them it was their right to discipline their child however they choose.

Police disagreed, saying that the girl's mother witnessed the abuse and that the two would face charges.

Here's the kicker - the mother works at a day care center.

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It's a little sad
written by Cookie, January 07, 2012

I'm not entirely sure I agree with the writer on this one. Yes, the parents were wrong in how they went about correcting their daughter. Infact, the whole situation was jacked up from the beginning.

However, to attack the community of people who work and play in a Renissance Festival, is just sad. We all do things that we enjoy, and some just enjoy it more than others. Do we downplay those who are in re-enactments or those in the Amish Community? No. But because it's not a part of the norm, its easy to just riddicule it as a whole.
We had something like this in highschool... we called it clicks and bullying.
I thought the article was funny, until I started to read the end of it. Then it just became sad.

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