Sadly, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he did something like that again.

Because "trying" is not enough. If your child starts insulting people you apologize to them and put a stop to it. If you can't do that - sometimes they go into full-on brat mode, that can happen - then you leave with them and punish them later. You don't just say "stop insulting that girl" and keep letting it happen. Just to clarify: discipline is not the same as spanking - there are plenty of ways you can discipline a child like removal of privileges, timeouts, no cookies ...

She's his mother, there is no 'try'.

spanking is a form of discipline. Removal of privileges, (no cookies, seriously???) is a belated discipline that takes place well after the incident. At the very least, she should have left with the child instead of letting it happen. The child needed immediate consequences, not something that may or may not happen hours later.

133 - Exactly! Spanking (when used correctly) isn't "child abuse" and won't "harm the childs mental development". I've heard both excuses. As long as you aren't leaving bruises, drawing blood or resorting to spanking all the time, it isn't abuse. And it won't stub their mental development or cause them to grow up into serial killers. I was spanked as a kid if I was caught sucking my thumb. I was told many times not to and even got a glove duck taped to my hand to prevent it (among many other ways of trying to get me to stop). So I knew I wasn't supposed to and when I deliberately disobeyed, my bare ass got smacked. I quickly learned to stop and it didn't mess me up in any way.

You got spanked for sucking your thumb? Omg ur parents were so mean. I feel sorry for you

There's no "your son deserved it" option.

he's HER responsibility. Nobody needs to beat a kid for discipline but seriously......just ****** leave and quit crying about it. Parenting just might be inconvenient sometimes but you don't let that shit happen. Bad mom, no cookie!

It's a matter of time. Whether you realize you do it or not. Sort of like judging a book by the cover but from a distance they can't hear you

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say bad parenting was the ONLY factor here. I have a feeling the OP would fail to see it that way though. She'll have fun taking care of that delinquent for the rest of his life.