How can an adult and the elderly be protected by a law but not a child?

[jaren12]

the 14th amaendment of the us constitution provides for equal protection of the law, by ALL citizens.
yet in many states it is ok to inflict corporal punishment on a child.
rhode island general law:
§ 11-5-3 Simple assault or battery. – (a) Except as otherwise provided in § 11-5-2, every person who shall make an assault or battery or both shall be imprisoned not exceeding one year or fined not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both
§ 12-29-2 Definitions. – (a) "Domestic violence" includes, but is not limited to, any of the following crimes when committed by one family or household member against another:
(1) Simple assault (§ 11-5-3);
As explained in State v. Jeremiah, 546 A.2d 183, 186
(R.I. 1988), the "standard definition of criminal assault" in Rhode
Island is set forth in
State v. Baker, 38 A. 653 (R.I. 1897), as
follows:
An assault, as ordinarily defined, is any
unlawful attempt or offer with force or
violence to do a corporal hurt to another,
whether from malice or wantonness. The
offense may consist also in putting another in
fear of violence.
With all this in place and writen and signed into law and the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing equal protection af the law, why is it our children are allowed to be assaulted. especially by the ones who are supposed to be protecting them

[gilleabart]

Hi, Every state has child abuse laws. Parents have the right to punish their children as long as the type of punishment is not abusive or causes emotional harm to the child. I , personally , do not believe in hitting someone you are supposed to love and protect. There are many other more successful ways to punish inappropriate behavior. As far as the elderly and adults are concerned, after the age of 18 rarely are people punished in the way that parents punish a child in the home. However, there are laws protecting the elderly. There are lws to protect the adult population. If someone chooses to assault someone or, there is domestic violence in the home, the law protects the adult p population through these laws when a crime wa committed. So, in my estimation, our laws protect everyone however, there are many different types of law that protect different age groups in our society. So many times child abuse is not reported because people don't want to get involved or, they're afraid someone will find out they reported the abuse. Sad but true! I have noticed over many years that you get less time for murdering or raping a child then you do if you murdered or raped an adult. JOSA

[teyrnon72]

Because back when the constitution was written, hitting your kids when they did something wrong was the norm.
Hell, beating someone for writing with their left hand was, too

[dacy17]

You're reading too much into this.

[cleirach70]

the second amendment gives us the right to own guns, why cant children own guns? oh and we have the right to vote, why cant children vote? in criminal court children under 7 dont have the ability to form mens reas (criminal intent), so they cannot be guilty for crimes, see what im saying, children have different needs ( like to be raised and taught lessons so they dont grow up as criminals themselves) and therefore they must be governed differently. but the exception is child abuse, at a point defined in the law, corporal punishment becomes child abuse, or child endangerment, etc.