Last week I watched a very disturbing episode of Dr. Phil. It was about parents who have crossed the line when it comes to punishing their children. Most of these parents were caught on cameras committing the horrific acts.
Here are some of the incidences caught through pictures or on video:
a mother using a high pressure water hose on her 2 ½ year old daughter at a car wash because she was throwing a temper tantrum
a mother encourages her teen daughter to fight another teen girl
a mother duct tapes her 22 month old son to a wall
a mother beats and tortures her 2 year old daughter until she is in a coma, all because of potty training problems
a mother ordered her 12-year-old son to beat his pet gerbil to death with a hammer because he had gotten bad grades in school
We hear stories like these and we just cannot imagine ever committing such horrendous acts. The acts in themselves are terrible enough, without thinking of doing it to one of our own.
I am often left thinking, “What could possibly cause a mother to cross the line?” A lack of sleep? Financial troubles? Mental illness? Inability to cope with parenting?
I don’t know that there are any “good” answers. To me it is just something that I could never picture even thinking about, let alone doing.
I get my moments of frustration. I have even felt like hanging up the title of mother at times. I remember when my children were younger, sometimes wanting to run away. But hurt them? Never.
I think if there is one lesson that all of us can learn from horrific stories such as these, is that anger can go the wrong direction in just a moment’s time. Reigning in our anger is so important,
especially when we are disciplining our children.
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Photo by ecerroni in morgueFile