My Truth: Hit my Mother? Never!

By: Cheryl Smith

I cringed and cried whenever I read or heard about a parent killing their child.

Speaking from my reality, I couldn’t fathom such an act.

Sure I got punished and sometimes I yelled like I was being murdered but there were times that I really did feel that the whipping I received did hurt my mother more than it hurt me!

The best way to make it through the punishment, I learned, was to provide an award-winning performance complete with just enough tears, gyrations and wails that gave the impression that I was regretful, remorseful, and surely not going to be a repeat offender. I let my mother know I felt the pain and didn’t want to feel it again.

Reflecting, I was good.

Just call me the “drama Queen of Newark (New Jersey)!”

Now I recall my brother taking another route. By then we had moved to East Orange and I guess he was “feeling himself.”

Instead of reacting, he stood still and let my mother pour her heart into disciplining him — he was always doing something!

Well after she had enough and walked away, I told him that he had screwed up.

“Now she’s gonna find another way to punish you because she sees whippings don’t bother you!”

Which brings me to recent headlines.

I was shocked beyond shocktivity to read, “Teens tried to kill mother for turning off Wi-Fi, Harris County (TX) sheriff says.”

All kinds of thoughts swirled around in my head. I wanted to know the ethnicity of the 14, 15 and 16-year-old children who had the nerve to pick up a knife and a brick and go after their mother.

The thought of me picking up anything to hurt my mother would have landed me in some emergency room if I were lucky, but most likely, the morgue!

These kids couldn’t have come from my neighborhood!

Unless, my neighborhood friends were defending themselves from drunk, high or abusive parents; they weren’t fighting their parents.

But according to reports, these children wanted Wi-Fi and they aren’t the only ones to act out over electronics, candy, toys, you name it!

Do you think they are enjoying Wi-Fi as they sit in the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center?

While the National Children’s Alliance reports that more than 600,000 children are abused annually in the U.S., sadly I believe the number is higher and any number is unacceptable.

Then too, according to statistics, “about five parents are killed by their biological children every week.”

I had no idea!

If those three teenagers had gotten ahold of their mom, I shudder to think of what would have happened and how their lives would be.

Actually, I still wonder what is going to happen to them. Would you want them to return home to you? Could you sleep peacefully with them in the house?

We talk about mental health, but are we serious about providing much-needed help, recognizing signs, and intervening when necessary?

I put a call out to noted psychologist Dr. Brenda Wall because I felt she could help make sense out of what I call a senseless situation.

I know we must understand that we are not looking at isolated incidents and we must realize that mental health issues are at epidemic proportions and worthy
of us focusing our attention on treatment, healing and controlling certain conditions that erode our quality of life.

In the meantime, can we do a better job of monitoring these weapons of mass destruction and distraction?