For at least 3 years I've avoided TV news programs, mostly due to my disgust of the media's addiction to sensationalism more than the actual news items themselves. I do read the world and local headlines on my Yahoo home page daily, and open links that interest me (if Norton says it's OK...) And every now and then I'm compelled by some unseen hand to open something I know up front will probably upset me for days.
This was one of them: the father in Louisiana who decapitated his disabled son because he'd grown tired of caring for him.
News Article
I keep wondering what events or circumstances in this person's life could have led to this? What could possibly make him think it was OK to do this? Is it ALL abysmal parenting? Bullying? Maybe a genetic anomaly? I've spent small blocks of time in Louisiana, and the climate alone almost made ME nuts. Is it possible some parent somewhere right now is making a mistake with a child that could someday snowball into a travesty like this?
I watched a woman at Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago backhand a toddler (maybe 3 to 4 years old) across his face and shout "SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH !!" with a twisted, ugly face. No, I did nothing except cringe. Yes, I should have called the police. Add that to the list of contributing factors: people who witness abuse and remain silent.
I can't help but think that poor and non-parenting are the major catalysts. From withholding affection to permissiveness (in an attempt to earn love), lack of discipline to excessive discipline, and a disinterest or unwillingness to be vigilant of a child's whereabouts and contacts: the list of parenting errors reads like a How-To Manual on how to raise a homicidal psychopath.
I believe all of us committted some of these errors at some point while raising our own children. Why are they OK? If there was a list, a mandatory-must-read-guideline for parenting, could this be stopped? Are there experts out there right now working on one?
Here's my plan, conceived of long ago: Forced sterility from birth, reversible after proof of moral and financial responsibility is demonstrated to an elected panel of judges. Big Brother is watching. I wish he'd been watching this guy.
I, too, am tired of the extended one-hour news segments that sensationalize murder and other crimes. Not something I want to watch.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the child-slapping woman at Walmart, the thing that scares the h double hockey sticks out of me is this: If she is slapping and verbally abusing a child in public, then what type of abuse is she inflicting upon this child in the privacy of her home?
I suspect she is proud of her parenting, thinks it elevates her to a "Takes-No-Crap" level of motherhood. Hopefully, she doesn't even do THAT much abuse at home, saves it for witnesses...
ReplyDeleteCretin.