What Would You Do?

This weekend, my family and in-laws went camping across the border on the outskirts of a small U.S. city. We had a great time playing in the water, bike riding and hanging out around the fire. It was fun to just relax and enjoy the sound of laughter from the kids playing. While we were there, my sister in-law (Jenn) and my two oldest boys (Colten [15] & Keyten [12] decided to go shopping for some new school cloths.

When we pulled into a parking spot, we heard a woman yelling. The boys and Jenn got out of the truck and we shocked to see the woman throw her purse and start hitting the young teenager in front of her. I was still in the truck as Jenn yelled at me to come watch this… I got out in time to see her smash the boy again and pull him down the sidewalk by his hair.

I yelled across the parking lot for here to stop it. I said that I would call the police because that was child abuse. She yelled back, that the police told her to put her hands on him and that he needs to stop swearing at her, and that the police could not find him when he ran away. That I should tell the police that it was her that found him. She pulled the boy by his hair all the way to her vehicle, shoved him in and drove off.

We all stood in shock and horror at the scene that we just witnessed. If this is how this lady treated her son in public…what was going on behind closed doors? As my family came together to talk about what we had just witnessed we approached the boys friends that were sitting on the bench outside the mall doors. One of the kids had a cell phone in his hands so I asked if he was calling the police. I said that we were all witnesses to child abuse and we would speak up for the boy. The kids had obviously had seen this type of behavior by this woman before because they did not seem to be phased by it at all. They were his friends but appeared to be numb to it all.

My sister & my boys walked into the mall and spoke about how sickened we felt about the entire event. Jenn said no wonder the boy ran away, if that is how he is going to be treated at home, she would not want to be their either. It was obvious to us that the parenting at home was not working, and the boy was indeed a product of his environment. What was happening at home was not working, so he was seeking change… the change he found was running away. Perhaps not the best option, but doing the same thing over and over again as a parent…and expecting different results…was not working for the mother either. With this parenting role model in this 14 year olds daily life, what are his options?

Right inside the mall, with tears streaming down my cheeks, I held my son’s and told them how much loved them . Without caring who was watching they both hugged me back…and told me they knew that I did.

[Keyten]

[Colten]

What would YOU have done?

Humbly Yours,
Marcia
President of Stock Harmony http://www.stockharmony.com/
Featured Contributor of VividLife http://www.vividlife.me/
Follow Me on Twitter http://twitter.com/Marciajk

You can find me on facebook at my fanpage, please click: 'Marcia Johnson'