I was with my children one day at the indoor park Billy Bees. I keep a close eye on them as they are girls. I got distracted for a second and when I turned back around I heard my youngest scream out “YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO ME!! I WON'T LET YOU STOP ME!” I looked up and saw a little boy 2 to three years younger than her INTENTIONALLY blocked her path on the stairways to the slides and refusing to let her pass.
I was sitting right next to his Dad.
He saw it.
He chose to keep looking at his phone.
But as soon as I got up to assist her, then he got up but still didn’t do anything. When my little mama turned around and he saw how frustrated she was, he finally paid a small amount of attention but just enough to make sure I wasn’t going to discipline his child.
This is sometimes where it starts.
When we as parents REFUSE to correct bad behavior we see in our children the effects on society as a whole can be immeasurable. In the case is intimate partner abuse, not correcting bad behavior becomes much more worse.
An article from Psych central states
“Children or parents or guardians who are abusive are at risk of these situations. This is especially the case when it comes to domestic violence, where abuse occurs between people who live together, including intimate partner violence, where violence occurs between romantic partners.” Taneasha White - How domestic violence may affect children. June 1, 2022
I’m not saying I know for sure that the Dad OR Mom were abusive or violent, but what I know for sure is what I witnessed!
That man saw his son in an inappropriate situation.
He put his head back down as if it was ok.
He only got up when I did.
We all are guilty of not really vetting past, present,
or future partners. One thing most of us don’t ever ask is
WHO RAISED YOU?
Were they violent to you?
Were they violent IN FRONT OF YOU?
How did you process all of that?
Sometimes it’s not that easy to determine whether potential mates or partners are intimate abusers or violent. There’s no exact science to any of this.
But we can ask the question.
WHO RAISED YOU
Dawud Muhammad
Domestic violence class teacher/relationship conflict specialist