Opinion
August 10, 1992
Appeal from the Family Court, Suffolk County (McNulty, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
We agree that the petitioner did not establish by a fair preponderance of the credible evidence that the subject children, ages 14 and 16, respectively, were neglected within the meaning of Family Court Act § 1012. Among other things, the allegations of excessive corporal punishment were not supported by physical evidence (see, Matter of Coleen P., 148 A.D.2d 782, 784). Moreover, although the children lived under strict household rules, we find that the punishments they received for failure to do their chores were reasonable in that they were for the "training or education" of the children and for the "preservation of discipline" (see, Matter of Rodney C., 91 Misc.2d 677, 681). The record shows that the children had almost perfect school attendance and their alleged poor performance in school did not establish neglect in this case (cf., Matter of Jovann B., 153 A.D.2d 858, 859). Bracken, J.P., Sullivan, Rosenblatt and Lawrence, JJ., concur.