THE REPORT published elsewhere in this edition about the extent of the physical abuse of young boys in particular and the nexus between how we treat our children and societal dysfunction, is disturbing at several levels.It can be taken as a given, that whatever data the researchers have been able to collate, the situation is likely to be much worse. Abuse of whatever kind tends to be under-reported and only show up in official statistics to the extent that other agencies such as hospitals and/or the police are brought into the picture.
There will also be the problem for some people of defining abuse. Many people who endorse the cultural and perhaps religious aphorism not "to spare the rod and spoil the child" will scoff at the Ministry of Health's research findings of the links between harsh physical punishment and criminality at a later stage in life. Yet, as a society, we cannot continue to ignore the psychological harm being inflicted on our children. The distinction between punishment and abuse is being increasingly blurred, the research reports suggest.
Varying explanations as to why parents and caregivers behave the way they do have been posited. Some researchers suggest that much of the abuse stems from the frustrations of the adults with the state of their social and economic circumstances. Most distressing, however, is the extent to which many people accept this as the "done thing".
When boys aged eight and younger are subject to the kind of abuse leading to repeated hospitalisation, as reported in the article, it should hardly be surprising that we are dehumanising present and future generations and that many will later seek to resolve their differences through physical confrontation and violence. In effect the children live what they have been taught.
We note that several programmes have been implemented over the past few years including the Peace and Love in Schools (PALS) project to teach students conflict resolution skills. This report, however, suggests that a wider audience of parents and caregivers needs to be targeted. The lessons being taught in schools are being undermined in many homes.
This is not a government problem it is a societal one which needs to be addressed by the various civic organisations, service club groups and religious organisations. We need a new approach to the socialisation of our young people and our boys in particular. Physical wounds take time to heal. Emotional and physical ones sometimes last a lifetime. The cycle of physical abuse that runs throughout the society must be broken.
