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Trinidad Ban Corporal Punishment At Home

Trinidad Ban Corporal Punishment At Home

With the recent beating of a 12 year old girl by a single mother who put it on Facebook the PM had a say that if it were up to her she would ban corporal punishment at home as well. Meanwhile, the mother who uploaded the video, vigorously defended her position saying that she would do it again if necessary except maybe not putting it on Facebook. What are your thoughts?

Home Punishment Corporal Ban Trinidad

Love and licks don't mix
By Sheila Rampersad

At the Queen's Park Savannah one evening last year, I heard a child's screams coming from the inside of a panel van. I asked the vendor whose van it was, what was happening. "It's my daughter," he said. "The grandmother beating she." Ref. Source 4

Trinidad Ban Corporal Punishment At Home Caribbean / Tobago & Trinidad

I'm so surprised that this got the attention that it did. Just a few decades ago this would've been viewed as perfectly normal although it went on a bit long in this case. I understand the vexation of the mother though as you have to admit that the crime warranted something drastic - that is not a mistake to make at 12 years old! What about the child that would've been born that they wouldn't have been able to take care of?

Call me old-fashioned but I believe in a good old fashioned trashing meted out on a certain age group for misdeeds.

Home Punishment Corporal Ban Trinidad

Me too. Children are being punished this way or worse in this country.

Yes, but we are in 2014 and we're supposed to know better. Unfortunately, we obviously do not because no matter the social and educational background of our people, we still in a perpetual state of colonial type of mentality.

Who is the child and who is the adult? I notice as Trinidadians we are not forgiving or understanding of basic psychology. We just ignorantly put down any notion that a 12 year old is STILL a child and his/her brain isn't fully develop until their middle 20's. Mistakes are going to be committed along the way. Taking a belt and giving 65 lashes...again...65 lashes to a child is NOT going to solve the problem.

I said it before and I will said it again. An average 12 year old doesn't wake up one morning and decides to put those kind of pictures on the internet. Why is she living with her grandmother? Where is her father?

On top of all this, the child records a video stating that her mother loves her making a connection between the 65 lashes and love. How scary! And what our people think? They think it is perfectly NORMAL.

We have assimilated licks so much into our culture that we refuse to see any other option because that's the ONLY model most of us had growing up. We do not know any better neither our parents.

"I got licks growing up and look at me, I turned out okay", according to whom may I ask? Because when you analyse their lives, their relationships with people you realise that they have more issues than they are aware of.

"Licks never killed anyone", like we forget quickly the many cases of child abuse in this country?.

Imagine that there are people who state "I don't agree with what this woman did..." And when you think they are giving you a sensitive answer, they ruin it by saying "Two or three or ten are fine, more than that is not okay". We're even justifying and analyzing degrees of lashes, types of belt, type of instruments...really?

Are we so oblivious to the fact that inflicting this kind of violence not only creates more violence but also creates a society full of people who are also going to teach their children this sort of method? Again, because that's the ONLY model they know.

Trinidad and Tobago, wake up! Why are you surprised that your children are not behaving in school? Why are you surprised that they do not talk with you? Why are you surprised that teenage pregnancy is so high in this country? Why are you surprised that you are raising an insensitive generation who feel no pain when they see the pain of others? Why are you surprised when your young daughters are dancing provocatively and posting inappropriate pictures on the internet? They are ONLY mimicking what they are SEEING YOU ADULTS DOING!

STOP blaming the children, take once and for all full responsibility for your irresponsibility as parents, teachers, politicians, role models and members of this society. STOP THE SAME BEHAVIOR you are accusing the children of doing, remove the mask from your faces AND STOP THE HYPOCRISY.

Home Punishment Corporal Ban Trinidad

It's funny how we find targets easily to vent our anger at and to force our ideology upon others.I keep hearing,"She is a child. She is only 12 years old. Where is her father?" And so many other questions. To begin with a twelve year old child is not a child but a young lady who is capable of reproduction. As the mother said she tried everything possible to get her daughter to behave in a 'repectable' manner to no avail. Finally she resorted to what she did and did it work? Well from what the daughter posted it seems to have only time would tell.

Trinidad Ban Corporal Punishment At Home

I swear for a minute I thought you was talking about the mother of the 12 year old in question.

Semantics. A 12 year old is a Pre-teen and she is still considered (Legally) a child.

How come everyone talks about what this girl did and they don't focus on why she did it (The cause)? Like Lydia said, no one wakes up one morning and decides to put inappropriate pictures of themselves on the internet. What this girl did was just the symptom of the bigger issue, certainly not the problem.

That's correct, only time would tell particularly within the next few years and the choices she will make with regards to the opposite sex and social relationships. Licks are a "Quick" Fix that doesn't solve the real issues.

Trinidad Ban Corporal Punishment Home

You can spin it any way you want. A twelve year old is a child, you are a minor until you are 18 years old.

You mean after getting 65 lashes if she will post something like that again? I don't know. Doesn't stop her from falling for the first guy who tell her she's pretty and ends up pregnant at 15. This nation has a very twisted concept of what LOVE is.

Trinidad Ban Corporal Punishment Home Trinidad & Tobago / Caribbean

According to the law of the land a 12 year old is a minor I agree.According to nature a twelve year old is ready to reproduce.

Now let's focus on why she did it.There are many reasons that come to mind.First one She wants to be 'Ranked' like everyone else. Second one Peer pressure. Third one She knows that the law is on her side so she could do it and get away with it and the list goes on and on and on. So what is my point. My point is according to the mother she tried other ways to get her daughter to behave in an appropriate manner when the daughter refused to listen she took drastic measures.

We always seems to think the grass is greener on the other side. So the so called developed countries say no corporal punishment because one 'expert' says it is wrong so we jumped on the bandwagon.What happens to the teachings of the good book?