5 min read

·

Apr 20, 2023

There is no reason for an adult to “beat” or “fight” a child unless a serious threat is posed. Additionally, a serious threat would involve weapons or murderous actions from the child. Most of us can say from the videos we’ve seen… these children aren’t posing a serious threat. They are simply being combative, immature, or reciprocating the energy they were given. In these scenarios, the child’s only sin was reacting to the adult’s inappropriate behavior.

As much as adults love to create these events in which we are being victimized by the same, little people we oppress, most children do not pose a threat to adults. Most children have significantly smaller body frames than us and even the biggest and oldest of them, will struggle to overpower someone who is more than five years older than them. The reality is adults still hold systematic power over most children. The exception to the rule is kids born into extreme wealth and privilege, but even with this lens, they are at the mercy of their guardians and other adults in their lives.

Furthermore, whenever children try to establish their independence or build their self-esteem, we, as the adults in the situation, quickly remind them that we are the ones who hold power over them. So even if children can win against adults in certain matters, they will still worry about having their victories taken from them and becoming subjugated to their guardian’s retaliation. To clarify, children need guidance and discipline from adults. Therefore, it is necessary for adults to “win” if the matters in question concern the child’s safety or well-being. You will not see me or anyone else who holds similar beliefs state otherwise. But we all kind of agree on this one particular thing – all discipline must be age appropriate.

To sound smarter than I am, we will touch on the Bill of Rights. Amendment VIII protects us from “cruel and unusual punishments” or this is what we would like to believe as citizens of this country. The definition of “cruel and unusual punishments” has been continuously debated, especially concerning the death penalty. More recently, people have evaluated this clause to evaluate society’s stance on corporal punishment. For example, Brian Junquera (2014) points out the irony of our society protecting prisoners from cruel punishments while allowing governments to condone corporal punishment directed at children. However, we shouldn’t have to throw felons under the bus to make a point about children’s rights. And the fact that we have to even stoop this low shows us that most Americans lack empathy for children and they don’t understand power imbalances.

The way I see it, everyone loves babies and cutesy toddlers. Then as soon as these kids grow up and develop any sense of self, all of a sudden, “There’s a problem with today’s youth” or “kids these days” or insert whatever Boomer, adjacent catchphrase. You get the idea. And before you give them the benefit of the doubt, I can say with certainty that these comments aren’t made out of concern for young people. The comments are made to boost a generation’s superiority complex and justify the war on youth culture. With this considered, American adults today are deeply insecure and appear to be more so concerned with losing their social status rather than the welfare of the children around them. Yet, these so-called leaders also care about street code and their fighting skills. As we peel the layers, it becomes very apparent that these fighting teachers are juveniles in the mind and a threat to children’s safety.

Abuse apologists cling to the philosophy of “Keep Children Punished and Subservient”. It is ridiculous, counterproductive, and a for sure way to get most human children to hate you. While they will pretend to love you while they are under your care, they will resent you once they leave home. So what exactly is “Keep Children Punished and Subservient” and why have people fallen for this? I, the mysterious writer, am using this term because it refers to punishment that is given for the sole purpose to establish the dominance of adults. It is inherently sadistic and self-serving. Moreover, “Keep Children Punished and Subservient” doesn’t focus on behavioral reform. Instead, it prioritizes making children into robots and promotes blind obedience. Age-appropriate restrictions aren’t considered because the role of this form of discipline is to reform. Punishment, however, is used to keep people in their place and threaten them into submission.

When adults choose to rule their classrooms or homes with the “Keep Children Punished and Subservient” mentality, they don’t consider that they’re robbing kids of an opportunity to form their own morals and ethical conduct. Since many children feel threatened to perform good behavior to avoid punishments, they’re in “fight or flight” mode. They’re living in fear of brutality, at the hands of people they depend on to survive. A child who is living with this stress will not have the time to assess rewards and risks. Under these conditions, a kid will become a sponge and mirror the adults or older children around them. They’ll mirror everything, including violence.

Considering all of this, we need to be open to the possibility that children who are on these “fight” videos with their teachers or other adults are simply mirroring adult behaviors. In theory, if a teacher is hostile and scares a child, the child will refer to one of their most reliant survival techniques. They’ll match the domineering behavior of the adult(s) around them to establish their personhood, in hopes that the powerful person will back off. If they are matched against someone who is sadistic and completely lacks empathy, they will go into fight mode because their instincts are telling them to do so. The reason why this affects some children and not others is simple. Some children have more experience with stressful situations with adults and others don’t. And of course, my theory isn’t set in stone and it can’t be considered factual. I also want to be clear that I am not a medical professional nor do I claim to have all the answers. But I do have some answers and that’s a lot more than many child abuse apologists are willing to give.

Based on this framework of thinking, it’s pretty obvious most of the teachers who fight their students were already child abusers or/and they’re not well-adjusted, in comparison to their other coworkers. Those who say otherwise just want to turn their critical thinking skills off for the sake of maintaining culture. I hope that no one took time out of their day to read this article and still thinks, “But…some kids are bad” is a great counterargument for abusive teachers. Either way, this conversation is getting exhausting for emotionally intelligent people. I shouldn’t have to give you a thousand and something words just so you can stop condoning cruelty against children. You should stop because it’s the right thing to do and it’s an abuse of power. Therefore, your kneejerk reaction to defend teachers isn’t rooted in solidarity. It is rooted in prejudice and the desire to treat children like second-class citizens because it benefits you.

Works Cited:

Junquera, Brian, “Corporal Punishment: An Analysis of the Constitutionality of Domestic Corporal Punishment” (2014). Political Science. 18.

https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/honorscollege_pos/18