Little stinkers

I met my little nephew last week. We call him Uncle Fester due to some physical resemblance. At first sight, there is no doubt that he suffers from ADHD. So aggressive, so rough, so unlike a 6 year should be. Everything he said or did had to do with physically hurting another.

Out of my auntly obligation, I reached out to play a little game of tickles with him. What a perfect opportunity i opened up for him to tell me how he would like to kick me unconscious, and throw my dead body in the jungle, after which he would slit my throat and watch my blood ooze all over my body. How horrifying it was to hear it coming from a 6 year old, or anyone at all to start out with. All of which were happening under the watchful eyes of his parents. They seemed to have found it amusing that the little brat was so full of energy and character.

Media plays a big role in educating our children. It shapes their values and the person that they would someday become. As much as our local censorship board may seem like they are doing an excellent job as they “TOOT” every bitch, bastard and ass, there is yet a long way for us to go till the day when we can safely leave our children in front of the tv.

Take for example Hell’s Kitchen, a weekly reality show which airs at 9.00pm. A show about a crude and obnoxious man chef passing on his knowledge to what it seems to be a bunch of young up-coming low self-esteem female kitchen helpers. Yelling and cursing for a continuous 30 minutes, nothing else caught my attention. The kitchen helpers looked terrified, and he looked as tough he enjoyed every minute of being the sadistic asshole that it was. For us it passes off as a pointless program, but as for the children, every thing they see is a lesson learnt.

This is just one example of the many programs that feed to the growth of violence in our country. This is one of the root causes to all the domestic abuse that we face today. What are we teaching our children? That it is ok for men to yell at women as such? Treat women as though they were second class and less worthy?

Although verbal and emotional abuse are not criminal acts, at least in our country, but there is a chance that it may lead to physical abuse. If we want to fight abuse against women and children, we must first try to kill the culture that feeds our young’s minds. The culture that make it somewhat OK for women to be of lesser importance. More than 40-60 % of abuse victims become abusers someday.

There is much to say about abuse, mush more that could b done. Sometimes, we get so preoccupied in helping victims; we forget to fight the cause. It is indeed a vicious cycle, snowballing into a disaster. If you think that the only way of fighting this cause is by lobbying at the parliament, think again. Switch off the TV the next time your child is watching a violent movie, and join the rest in their noble fight!