Ms. McKoy
English 2- Block 1
05 September 2013
Criminal Line
There is a very thin line between discipline and abuse. I
grew up visiting my great grandparents at Christmas parties plus family
reunions. It started leading to making trips to their apartment because they
were getting too elderly to host these parties. Then I turn around and I am
beside their hospital beds gazing at them remembering the past. Little did I
know that my great grandfather who I saw before my eyes was someone that
would come home and decide to wrench at one of the babies legs for crying,
or almost beat the life out of his children for not doing something his way. My
mammaw was one out of her thirteen brothers and sisters, and her mom stayed
home with all of the babies while her dad was occupied as a preacher. She
attended a private catholic school where nuns taught. The nuns thought so highly
of her preacher father, so if she ever said anything to them they wouldn't have
believed her. Her wounds would be in places that were unexposed to where no one
else could see them. Was this his strategy of discipline or was he doing this
because he just had that cold of a heart?
Most people think child abuse is characterized as one
topic and stands alone, but this subject has several branches that go along
with it. "Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional maltreatment or
neglect of a child by parents, guardians, or others responsible for a child's
welfare." Physical abuse is when a child gets injured and it leaves marks
such as bruises, scars, or maybe even a broken bone. Sexual abuse is any kind
of inappropriate exposure or physical touch by an older figure. Isolating, declining,
petrifying, or disregarding a child could be known as emotional abuse. Neglect
could be a parent failing to provide food, clothes, protection, and a shelter
to their kid. In my initial research, I found that the abusers were usually
abused in their childhood years as well. In other cases the abusers might have
a drug addiction, or they might not have the education to handle an adolescent.
Any type of mistreatment seems to certainly affect the children in
the later years with "physical or mental impairment." Abused children
are also most likely those ones who make the bad decisions such as suicidal or
homicidal thoughts, guilt, depression, anxiety, and have a criminal record. In
America there remain more than a million children that are abused each
year, and around 2,000 of those die. Even though there isn't exact information
including numbers on this topic, most people recognize that this stays an
escalating problem in our country. (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia).
My essential question is “What is the difference between
discipline and abuse?” because some could confuse the discipline of a child
with abuse. I would like to further my research on this topic because maybe I
can find ways to express how to get them out of rigid situations or
confronting someone about it in a subtle way. People that stood
in firm situations such as my mammaw that can't communicate with anyone
feel stuck, and they might make some wrong decisions; although, my mammaw took
the higher ground and says it made her stronger. Abuse is not right to be used
for the punishment of a child. All parents have punishing rights for their
child, but they should never take advantage of it and go to the criminal line.
