Child abuse or discipline?

June 12, 2019 Educator's Corner Opinion

“Aray ko! Child abuse!” How do people differentiate child abuse from discipline? These days, news and cases about child abuse have
sky rocketed to the point that parents and teachers are having
trouble disciplining their own students and children nowadays.
For extremists, child abuse and discipline almost have no difference at all. Teachers and parents have different definitions, but they are
troubled from the views and opinions of other people.
So, what exactly is the difference? Child abuse is just as the words imply, abusing a child. And at times, it can lead to death. Child abuse consists of anything that may result to problems with a child’s
physical, emotional or mental well-being and development.
On the other hand, child discipline is described and defined as a ‘training’ for children, since we are not born knowing how to have the right manners or how to do actions which are ‘acceptable’.
Hence, the duty and role of parents and teachers to guide and discipline children.
The big problem though is that ever since the Republic Act No. 7610, the act concerning about child abuse, was implemented people have come to misunderstand and mistake discipline for child abuse.
Due to this, many of the youths, or as Jose Rizal described ‘the hope of our nation’ make wrong decisions which leads to more troublesome matters such as joining fraternities, gangs and even committing crimes such as theft, drug use and others.
With these cases, it is therefore duty of parents and teachers to discipline the children and students, ‘the hope of our nation’.
As Andy Smithson said, “The sign of great parenting is not the child’s behavior. The sign of truly great parenting is the parent’s
behavior.” It is indeed the parents’ behavior in raising the
child that matters most.
It is indeed in their hands where the proper correction of erring youths is corrected.

by: Meriam Gao-ay
Pines City National High School