MR: I don’t think I’m criticizing this from a legal perspective. The reason we give judges discretion is that different situations call for different things. And it is clear from this video that the judge was way out of line. He shouldn’t have called her back the first time, and he shouldn’t have baited her by calling out “adios” at her. And he definitely shouldn’t have put her in jail.
I suppose I can’t convince you all, but I think this issue goes straight back to just about everything we discuss here about kids and chinuch. It is bizarre that this little kid is going to jail for doing no harm, and all the reaction society has is “look at that funny video; I bet she learned her lesson good.”
As if chinuch is about getting revenge for all the bad things kids do. Shloimie wasn’t paying attention in school; I bet he’ll learn his lesson if I embarrass him in front of his class. Rivki was chutzpadik at home; I bet she’ll learn her lesson if I punish her.
Next time we discuss why kids go off the derech, I’m pointing right back to this thread. Kids perceive Hashem to be like their parents; and who would want to be part of religion where G-d acts like you are suggesting.