Recently I was witness to an ugly incident, that completely stunned me, and I can't seem to get the young boy's scream out of my head. I was at Walmart, on a Saturday, which is always packed. Trying to get "in and out" of that place is pretty much impossible. The moment that has etched in my brain happened when I looked to my right - the sights and sounds remain frozen.

A quick smack to the face and a violent jerk of his arm

Here is what I saw, which made me sick to my stomach -a young boy no older than 6 years old was reaching for something on the shelf, an older man (I assume his father) issued a quick backhanded smack to his face, followed sharply by a violent jerk of his arm (taking him away from his intended reach). The sick sound of his hand to the boy's face, followed by a combination of a gasp and shriek -just floored me.

All I could do was watch them walk away

I looked around to see if anyone else witnessed it as well, but nobody did. All I could do was watch them hurry away - the boy's cries were deafening. I was left completely helpless to an unbelievable 3 or 4 seconds of abuse - and that's what it was.

I don't care if some parents say they have a right to discipline their kids with acts of aggression

Here is my open letter to this individual - stop and think of the damage you probably are doing to your son - physical and mental. You hit your son in the face - period. Not a tap, or a tiny spank, but an act that can't ever be taken back. I completely get it, I understand how frustrations can run deep when dealing with younger children, but all this boy did was reach out, to something that caught his eye. I can only imagine what was going on in his head when this happened. To you sir, please try and remember what it was like when you were that age, were you punished in a harmful way?

I just hope that this little boy's world isn't full of sporadic moments of violence and abuse.


 

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