Friday I was chatting with a neighborhood parent when she told me of a disturbing incident she witnessed as she drove through my neighborhood earlier this summer.
As she was passing one house, she saw a woman getting into a car at the curb as a young boy, probably 7 or 8, came running up to her. Anticipating a loving scene where the boy gets a big hug from his mom, my friend was instead shocked to see the woman turn and strike the boy with the back of her hand, knocking him to the ground!
The kid picked himself up off the ground and calmly walked back into the house. It was as if this wasn’t the first time that this kid had been hit.
I was aghast. Hearing this broke my heart. This kid lives in my neighborhood. I’ve waved to him many times as he’s quietly ridden his bike around his front yard, always by himself. He seems like a good kid but that’s beside the point. What the hell was this woman thinking to hit a child like that? How screwed up is she to think this is okay?
What goes through this poor kid’s mind in an environment like this? Does he ever feel loved? Will he grow up to think that it’s perfectly fine for him, too, to knock the daylights out of his children? Or his wife? Will he think that violence shows affection?
I pulled out my smartphone and asked my friend to show me exactly where she thought the house was. I’m pretty sure I know which one it is, though I can’t be completely sure. Plus, I don’t know when it happened. What can I do about it? What should I do about it? My friend didn’t want to confront the woman since my friend had her kids with her at the time and the situation could’ve turned ugly. Is there someone I can call, and will they respond to a second-hand report?
I didn’t expect to find validation right on my own doorstep for my friend Ronneil’s mantra of the need to “fix the home,” but such is the case. I think it’s time to shine a light on these issues and find some answers. I was going to say “start a conversation” here but all talk and no action won’t change anything.
It’s time to do something. No kid deserves to be abused.