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"Give me my hands back"
I was horrified and shocked to hear a story that was broadcasted on Sunday, March 27th, 2005 on The Youth Voice Radio, which really is the voice of the whole society, not just the youth's. The story is about a family who, most of their life, lived in only one room in their extended family's house but eventually managed to move to a new house - big enough for the large number of children, now being able to play and jump around freely instead of feeling confined as in their old home.
One day, the parents went to visit their family but left the child at home, although the little boy wanted to visit his grandparents as well. He remained alone in the house, was bored, and didn't know what to do with his time. So, he grabbed a marker and started to mark and scribble the walls of the house, expressing some of his feelings. For him, it was nice and colorful, but it was catastrophic for the parents: When they returned from their visit, they found the walls covered with another color. The father was outraged, he could not restrain himself. He took a needle and pinched the hands of his child aggressively over and over again, punishing the boy for his "shameful" act. Imagine the state of the little child as the metallic needle is penetrating his tinny hands, blood is pouring and he is screaming loudly! Imagine the scene, with the child's eyes expressing fear of loved ones, not understanding the parent's harsh reactions, not understanding their way of teaching him to behave! Who did that? It was not the occupation, not strangers, not another family, not other children teasing him or punishing him. It was the father! The symbol of protection, giving, love, and kindness; the symbol of securing basic needs for the child. The shock was against the child's expectations. It was very horrifying for the little boy. This night he slept in agony and pain and the next morning he felt extreme pain in his hands. His body was swelling. The family did not pay much attention, they were not aware of what the punishment caused. They kept using ice and cold compressions to suppress the child's pain. Then, a whole week after this incident, the child lost the ability to move his hands. When the family sought medical help - after it was too late and regretting and remorse were useless - the family was shocked by the doctor's advice that gangrene was taking place in the child's hands and the best solution is to amputate his hands. The parents could not believe what they have heard from the doctor. But, what could they do? How would the father ever be able to deal with his guilty conscience? The child had to enter the operation room, was anesthetized, and operated on having his hands amputated. After a while, the child woke up finding his arms wrapped and bandaged. He was handless. He started looking in his father's eyes saying to him: Father, I will not repeat my action again… I will not scribble the walls again but, give me my hands back! My goodness, is this an example of child-raising practices in our society!? What is the standard of acceptable education for our children? |