parents' negligence

Yesterday, I felt queasy after reading the article on the second case of dad killing his 2-year old daughter. In just a week, there were already two such cases. The dads, flared up by their toddlers' curiosity, easily killed the toddlers by merely kicking and stepping on their small and fragile bodies. These men had not appreciated the wonderful beings that God has given them as life's gifts. They couldn't see the opportunities of growth these children have. All they see are their children's mistakes over and over again. All they see are stupidity and stubborness. They did not realise that every child is born with a curious mind, because there are plenty of things to learn about in this world. The brain must be trained to accept knowledge and it is through play and meddling with the objects they see, children learn about their world. Why must we punish them for the natural things that God has made them for? Are the dads trying to exert their fatherly authority over their kids too early without proper knowledge of how to teach their kids? Have they forgotten how their own parents raised them? Were they punished to such an extent? I have never heard of a punishment such as stepping and kicking your child. In fact, the use of the leg to hurt someone is only applicable in self defence and not in raising your kids! I do worry sometimes, when emotions run amok, and you just feel that the right thing to do is to hit your child in order to teach him or her a lesson. But wait, how does the prophet does it? In fact, the prophet does not even hit his grandchildren who climbed over his body when he was performing his prayer. In Islam, the first few years of life, is all about playing. Because kids learn a lot from play. Then only when the kids reach the age of ten, some form of discipline is practised to ensure that the kids will have a good grounding in performing the five prayers of the day, and also the Ramadhan fast. There are also ways to hit a child. Never ever should he or she be hit on the face, because the face is where a person's self respect is. And should the child be reprimanded, it should be done away from where others could see. Not in the middle of a busy place, where your child would feel embarrassed. If only the present generation of Muslim families practise the teachings of the prophet, such depressing news of the dead toddlers won't be heard. To me, the toddlers are like roses still in the bud. Before they could bloom, someone stomped on them purposely till the buds lose all their petals.