I smiled. I thought it was poignant and fresh! And then I thought, oh dang, is Social Services going to come pounding at her door? Will the police arrest her for assault? Child Abuse? Will the vulture media turn into the hall of judgement?
Cuffing a misbehaving child on the head, dragging him by the arm, were reactionary responses by a mother desperately wanting to protect her child from harm. Utilizing discipline in a way that will get her son to pay attention is specific to her, her son, and the situation. She knows him a whole lot better than anyone else and knows what it will take to get him in line. The immediate media response was – go for it – but after the storm, there were those criticizing the mom and claiming she was acting in a rageful fit.
Really? Exactly how would you react if your sixteen year old son was deep in the midst of a riot throwing rocks at the police? Would you calmly and gently use your pretty voice to restrain him and encourage him to come home? “Honey, pleeeasseee”. I don’t think so. And the police didn’t either. They were ready, willing and able to use whatever force necessary, and it would most likely have been a lot more violent than a cuff to the head and a yank on the sleeve. Reality check.
The last gripe I have in this instance is the media questioning the mom’s character because she has six kids and is a single mom. When did this become a ‘character flaw’? Do you really think that was a choice? Do you think she woke up one day and said, “I know, I’m going to have a bunch of kids and no husband or father”? I think she is doing the best she can given some pretty unfun circumstances and she should be lauded for keeping it together. What is with this society that sits back like a panel of judges and points a gnarly finger of condemnation. Get Over It!
It is amazing how far the pendulum has swung in such a ridiculously radical direction of action-consequence. This is not condoning beating a child, it is supporting the action of getting the goof ball out of harms way whatever it takes! He suffered no abrasions, no trauma, no emotional scars except for embarrassment.
So, anyway, Social Services, media, get your panties straight and save it for true abusive situations that you seem to neglect, forget or don’t find worth – for example I had to go to a French paper to find out that Maine has admitted to systematically removing tribal children from their native American homes and putting them in foster care without just cause … just saying –
FYI – apparently, according to the time zone that monitors my blog, I am being hosted out of Iceland from the town of Reykjavik.
Reblogged this on Anchor Of Promise and commented:
With so much controversy over the Baltimore mom who reprimanded her son, Helena shares a good perspective of that situation. It is easy to see that if this mom didn’t intervene on that day, her son would be the next teen in crisis down the line. No matter what many may think, that son learned a very valuable lesson and in the end, thanked his mom that she cared enough to step in and save him from a life that would truly have been destructive.
Reblogged this on Armor Of God Foundation.