The definition of a “child” varies from country to country. According to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, anyone under the age of 18 is considered a child, unless a country’s law defines adulthood as occurring at a younger age. This means a child is entitled to a range of rights, protections, and care appropriate for their age, through their growing awareness of the world around them. This awareness serves as the first gateway for a child to enter a world of knowledge and skills.
The more effective a child’s sensory integration is, the better their ability to learn, adapt, and develop physically, mentally, and socially. However, achieving this requires providing both psychological and physical care, an important concept that many people overlook. In our culture, it is often considered necessary to hit a child if they fail or neglect to perform a religious duty, for example.
This hinders their development and constitutes a violation of their human rights, given the child’s complete inability to defend themselves. It also has a profoundly negative impact on their psychological well-being and overall future. Therefore, civilized countries do not hesitate to punish parents, guardians, or teachers who hit a child under the pretext of discipline or for making a mistake. The laws in these countries also prohibit harming animals, as the sophistication and civilization of a nation are measured by how it protects the weak. Serious studies have shown that many hardened criminals and mentally ill individuals were often subjected to beatings during childhood.
Likewise, those who inflict such violence on children, whether parents, guardians, or teachers, were frequently victims of severe beatings themselves. Proper child-rearing requires skills that many lack, which are love, appreciation, encouragement, as well as a deep understanding of the child’s needs and true abilities, coupled with patience as their minds mature into adulthood.
As children and even teenagers, many of us were accustomed to seeing teachers carrying sticks and using them as threats. Unfortunately, teacher violence has caused many students to drop out of school. It is encouraging to see that international agreements have since worked to eliminate this abusive practice in some countries, though it sadly persists in many others, including much of our region.
I have often heard stories, especially from the 1970s and earlier, about friends returning from abroad, often from Western countries, complaining that schools and even security authorities warned them they could face legal action if they physically discipline their children, or if the children reported parental mistreatment to teachers. I vividly remember my late friend Salem Zabal, the chief photographer for Al-Arabi magazine, when he returned from Australia. He felt that his right to raise his daughters according to the devout Christian upbringing he had received was being restricted. For that reason, he chose to return to the Arab Middle East, which he called “paradise”.
Therefore, it is essential to enforce laws that protect our children. Children are not the property of their parents but belong to society as a whole. Their behavior, good or bad, reflects on everyone, whether parents like it or not. In this context, former Al-Azhar cleric and professor Mustafa Rashid highlighted that an Eastern man often feels no shame in beating his wife in front of his children, yet is embarrassed to show affection by kissing her in their presence.
By Ahmad alsarraf
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