I was out walking last night and saw a little boy, perhaps four years old, whack his mother in the leg. She dragged him a little ways away, grabbed his arm, and slapped him so hard I could hear it clearly.
What are we teaching here?
One of the things I will not miss about the Marshall Islands is seeing mothers and fathers hit their children, openly and frequently. On the street. In the store. During church. I recognize, however, that it is not just this culture's issue—it happens all over the world, and it also happens behind closed doors.
Please, don't hit your children. There must be a happy medium of discipline between complete inaction (also, I realize, not a good thing) and violent action when our children do things that hurt themselves or other people.
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2 comments:
Hi Jamie,
I hear you on the hitting! It breaks my heart. I saw a man beating the snot out of his son because he took him across a busy road on bikes and the son was left in the median. I turned my car around and parked right by the dad punching his son. I got out of the car and told the dad if he hit him one more time I was calling the cops. I endured a barrage of verbal insults but did not move until the kid was on his bike heading home. I told the dad if he wanted to fight, pick someone his own age, but if he touched me there would be consequences. Another driver pulled in during this time and the dad took off. I feel so sorry for the boy - if I had known where they lived, Child Protective Services would have been on their doorstep.
Well done, Bethany. I think if we saw a man beating a woman on the street, or a man beating a man on the street, we would definitely stop and definitely call the cops, but we are more hesitant when it comes to children. I'm glad you stopped. I know it's controversial, since perhaps the person will beat the kid all the harder when no one is watching, but the alternative of not saying anything or doing anything is much worse—that poor kid knows that no one will come to his or her rescue and that such behavior is considered acceptable by society.
I was able to talk to the woman in my broken Marshallese and tell her that if he hits her and she hits him then nothing is learned.
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