I unfortunately had this "touching without consent is battery" explained to me
by a police officer.  He could be wrong and thus I could be wrong.  I put my
hand on a neighborhood boy's arm as he drove a motor scooter through our
playground (against the rules in small town).  When the police officer, the
child and his mother came knocking on my door I thought for certain it was
because the child would be apologizing to me for having cursed at me and
disregarded my repeated requests to him that he not ride a motor scooter where
my small children played.  I was incorrect!  The police officer came knocking
so that I could understand fully the possible legal ramifications of having
put my hand on this child (not injuring, not bruising, not slapping, not
hitting).  *I* apologized to *him*.  It was a sad day for me, and one that
that boy will never forget - disregard the rules, disrespect adults, and claim
battery.  Would the claim be prosecuted by the district attorney?  Probably
not.  But I guarantee that I *could have been cited*, paid whatever it costs
to make it go away and been totally humiliated by a ten year old punk.

Lisa Jones in Wellington FL