Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Child Abuse


I am literally baffled when I see parents striking their children.  I don't understand why some parents feel it is okay to hit their child for disobedience, but would never ever assault an adult in the same way for not doing as they wished.  
Can you imagine someone coming up to you on the street, telling you to do something, and then hitting you repeatedly until you figured out what they wanted and did it, in reality that person would go to jail for physical assault and battery!  But who stands up for the child with no voice?  For some reason it is very wrong for a stranger to beat the crap out of you on the street, but totally okay if it is your family and it takes place at home, those ones don't go to jail...  It is an absurd thought, why would anyone ever do that to another adult, yet it is totally acceptable in children with severely limited verbal and emotional skills, also unable to physically defend themselves, to be struck for disobedience, in fact most people encourage this.  
Most people do so in the name of God, they think it says somewhere in the Bible that they should beat their children, and it most certainly does not.  Jesus tells us that we are to come to Him as children, and that anyone who is a stumbling block to a child is going to have a very bad outcome in the end.  Jesus tells us to disciple/discipline our children, here is wikipedia's definition:

In its original sense, discipline is systematic instruction given to disciples to train them as students in a craft or trade, or any other activity which they are supposed to perform, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order". Often, the phrase "to discipline" carries a negative connotation. This is because enforcement of order – that is, ensuring instructions are carried out – is often regulated through punishment.
Discipline is the assertion of willpower over more base desires, and is usually understood to be synonymous with self control. Self-discipline is to some extent a substitute for motivation, when one uses reason to determine the best course of action that opposes one's desires.


Jesus never told us to hit our children, and he severely chastened those who tried to keep the children from coming to him in their pure and beautiful spirits.  We are to mentor, to train...  Not to teach our children that when they get upset with another person the right thing to do is strike them until they behave as they should.  There are countless studies that prove that physically striking your child for punishment causes rage and anger to boil up in them and pour out at other times, among MANY other negative effects.

Here is one such article, there are MILLIONS, I will put up the link for this one as it is in depth:  http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/discipline-behavior/spanking/10-reasons-not-hit-your-child

What a different world this would be if we could teach our children in the way we want to be taught ourselves, and  if we viewed raising our children as a joy and treasure, not a joyless mindless task where we seek only to get through one day to the next.  Life was meant to have joy in it.

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