Regarding sexual abuse, those committing these deviant acts should be dealt with as severely as possible. Too often perpetrators are given slaps on the wrist and are then allowed to re-offend.
I say that until someone finds, or society allows, a biochemical or other effective way to control the impulses of sexual offenders, there should be a one-strike law: One strike, and the offender is in prison for life. This consequence is harsh, but why not let an offender rot away in prison—even if the offender was a victim him or herself at one time? It will prevent several to many more lives from being ruined down the road and break the cycle of perpetrators.
I know there are numerous facets to consider with locking someone away—such as the fact that the incarceration of the perpetrator could mean the loss of a parent for life. But in the greater interest of all children, it's absolutely vital to ensure that one incorrigible life is not allowed to decimate and corrupt many more innocent ones.
© 2008 David Lee Cummings / Healing Embrace
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Let's Teach Mandatory Parenting Classes in High School
One of the things I think societies need to do to prevent child abuse is to teach all of its citizens effective parenting skills. We become parents without ever having been trained in the most common and timeless of "jobs."
Parenting simply is not easy for anyone, and many acts of abuse are done because the parent doesn't know how else to manage their child's behavior. Inflicting some form of physical punishment is therefore often levied because the parent doesn't know an alternative intervention that works. We should thus teach high school juniors and seniors, in school, what to expect as parents and how best to be parents themselves (with an emphasis on delaying parenthood until they are emotionally and financially mature enough to effectively handle the responsibility).
In fact, educational systems should also teach other life skills, such as financial aptitude, as part of the core curriculum in addition to the traditional three Rs. Our world would be a better place if we all learned to be better, more responsible people as well as literate ones.
© 2008 David Lee Cummings / Healing Embrace
Parenting simply is not easy for anyone, and many acts of abuse are done because the parent doesn't know how else to manage their child's behavior. Inflicting some form of physical punishment is therefore often levied because the parent doesn't know an alternative intervention that works. We should thus teach high school juniors and seniors, in school, what to expect as parents and how best to be parents themselves (with an emphasis on delaying parenthood until they are emotionally and financially mature enough to effectively handle the responsibility).
In fact, educational systems should also teach other life skills, such as financial aptitude, as part of the core curriculum in addition to the traditional three Rs. Our world would be a better place if we all learned to be better, more responsible people as well as literate ones.
© 2008 David Lee Cummings / Healing Embrace
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