I've noticed that my last few ranting and raving posts (i.e., the cell phone incident) have been posted on Thursdays. This led me to start a new tradition here on my blog - "Rant Thursday". I'll post something that tees me off, perplexes me, hurts my feelings, etc. Then you, my loyal readers - the whole handful of you ;-) - can make comments of your own either agreeing, adding to, or disagreeing with that particular rant. If I get lots of feedback, I'll continue this tradition... well, as long as I remember it, anyway. If not, I'll find something else to post.
So, this week's rant - parents who do horrific things to their children in the name of 'discipline'. I'm not talking about spanking. I am a firm believer that sometimes a smack to the hind-end is the best way to get a child's attention that something they did is wrong and to ensure they never do it again. My parents spanked me a lot; I was such a rotten brat I deserved all that I got. But sometimes, you hear in the news about someone who does something so horrific to a child for such a lame "offense" that you hope the person burns in hell for it ..... forever. Case in point: Did you hear this week about Joshua Tabor, the Washington-state soldier who waterboarded his 4 year-old daughter because she wouldn't say the alphabet? No, that isn't a typo. His daughter is only four years old and he felt holding her head down in water was an appropriate punishment for not being able to say her ABC's. According to several news articles, he chose this punishment because the girl is terrified of water, AND it wasn't the first time he'd done it, either. The article link above states he got frustrated because he'd been drilling her on her alphabet for three hours and she still couldn't say it. Why on earth did he think trying to work with a 4 year-old for three hours on the same subject was an appropriate way to make her learn? This man appears to know nothing about effective parenting or teaching. I hope this poor girl is in intensive therapy and that she never sees her father again. Some of the news articles on this incident mention that Tabor might have PTSD, and that is a defense of what he did. While I can see that PTSD could potentially drive someone to do something this horrible to a child, that doesn't mean the child should have to be subjected to it again. Regardless of what "caused" him to do it, it is a terrible thing to do to a child and he has no business being around her ever again for the girl's own safety. I get that he may have a sickness that caused him to do it, but that doesn't mean the girl should have to be subjected to it or him.
Stinkbumps the Wonder Boy: The rants, ravings and ramblings of a lunatic, overachieving single mom.
4 comments:
I have been torn up over this ever since I heard about it. I will agree, wholeheartedly, that this is an absolutely terrible thing and I've been praying for her safety and peace.
BUT... I must add to your rant. And this may be slightly disagreeing with you:
I am disgusted by what he did, but I can't help but feel complicity. It is our government's war that has damaged him, our politicians insistence that waterboarding is not torture, is not dangerous or hurtful or damaging that has infiltrated his mind, our nation's belief that once our soldiers return home we're done with them that has left him high and dry. I cannot defend his action, but neither can I defend a nation that has put him in this position and then wants to gather round the television to crucify him.
Not you, though. I lurve you.
Hey, I do feel better now. Way to go. I love the Rant Thursdays.
No, I agree with you that there is a level of complicity... BUT (again with the "buts")... what I was saying is that - regardless of it was an illness or mental anguish or whatever that caused him to do it, I hope that little girl never has to be around him again. Just because it may not have been 100% his "fault" what he did, does not mean it is safe to leave the girl with him anymore. It's kind of like having a parent who has a mental illness that makes them violent towards their children (paranoid schizophrenia or the like) and who won't take medication for it. Okay, so the mental illness made you try to choke your child to death because you thought he was an agent of the devil sent to destroy the world. You won't take the medication or undergo treatment for the disorder, so there's a risk that you could try to hurt the child again. Ergo, you don't get to be around the child anymore, ever, until you are on medication and in treatment and have gone X amount of time without trying to hurt anyone. So that's what I meant about that little girl never having to be around her father again.... I should have said "never have to be around her father again until he has successfully completed treatment for his PTSD and successfully completed anger management therapy." And even then I would be cautious about checking up on things. You see, what burned me up so bad about this was not just the physical abuse aspect of it. It's the mental abuse. He knows his pre-school aged daughter is terrified of water. She won't do what he wants her to do, so he makes her think she's going to drown. In water. That she was already terrified of. That's some sick shit, yo.
I totally agree with that. Abuse is abuse no matter what the why is. What I found disturbing was how he didn't seem to understand that it was wrong. When you have situations of PPP or other illness, the sufferer seems to "wake up" and realize what they did. He was so matter of fact. I'm not sure that even if he is rehabilitated completely, it would ever be in her best interest to be exposed to him again.
How awful. Awful, awful, awful. I have a hard time even hearing/reading about this stuff.
I love Rant Thursday. I may do it myself from time to time because I do love to complain.
Post a Comment