I have been thinking about this for a long time, and today I saw something that caught my attention, and saddened me at the same time.  I saw a Facebook post that had a video of a 8 year old girl pushing then punching and fighting a 5 year old girl.

 This in and of itself would be bad enough, but no that wasn’t the worst part.  The worst part was the 8 year olds parents encouraging this child to beat on another child with brazen joy.

It was one of the most repugnant things I’ve ever witnessed.  I’ve had this article in waiting for a time and today is the right time and place to put it out into the universe.

One day early in the morning, I noticed a woman teaching her son boxing combinations, mind you the child could not have been any older than 6 years old.

My first reaction was, is this child being bullied in school already, which happens quite regularly no matter what age or grade.

My second thought was why teach him moves that you will later have to deal with if he ends up fighting in school, because you as the parent said “Don’t let anyone hit you, without hitting them back”.

While I agree with protecting your child as a parent, this will only perpetuate the culture of violence that a lot of people are either already deep in or trying to extinguish.

 My thoughts are “Is this really what parents should be showing and teaching their children, instead of helping them prepare for their class the next day?” Instead of teaching boxing combos before catching the bus, you reassure the use of using their words, unless there is no other alternative including telling an adult what’s going on.

Kids at that age should be interested in what snack they will eat, and what time is recess, not hand to hand combat, unless they are training for becoming an amateur boxer.

My opinion is that a lot of these parents may have been in similar situations when they were younger, and don’t want to have their kids endure what they went through as a youth.

As I stated, I understand the protection element as a parent, but then you have to think when do we put an end to the cycle though?

Who will be the first to do so?

By

Claude Blank