Creflo Dollar arrest sparks debate over corporal punishment - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

Reverend Creflo Dollar's family problems are fueling debate over corporal punishment.

The megachurch pastor was arrested Friday after his 15-year-old daughter called police claiming dollar  punched and choked her.

Dollar is the leader of the World Changers Ministries, a church headquartered in College Park that generates tens of millions of dollars each year. He denies the allegations, telling his congregation on Sunday that "all is well in the Dollar household."

While father and daughter give differing accounts of what unfolded during a heated argument at the family's Fayetteville home, the case has generated a lot of debate over the old adage "spare the rod, spoil the child."

"Reasonable corporal punishment of a minor is legal in the state of Georgia," said DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James.

James says a growing number of children and teens are reporting their parents for alleged abuse and it is common for a responding officer to make an arrest.

"Typically if there is a visible injury then that officer is going to arrest someone," James said.

James has found that most claims are unfounded, but says the parents who wind up in his courtroom on child cruelty charges have often blurred the lines between discipline and possible physical abuse.

"When you get into strangulation or choking, when you get into punching someone with a closed fist," said James.

Family and relationship psychologist Dr. Alduann Tartt sees a lot of parents and children in crisis in his Atlanta practice.

"Don't feel guilty for disciplining your child. A child without discipline is really not loved," said Tartt.

Tartt says those parents who foster a structured nurturing environment for their children early on, setting clear boundaries and expectations, face fewer disciplinary problems during the teen years.
    
"You have to start early, be firm and then you can be lenient," said Tartt.

While there is a lot of debate over whether or not it is appropriate to physically discipline a child, experts say it is never a good idea to strike a child when you are angry and emotional because parents are more prone to use unnecessary force, and cause injury.