We see and hear the commercials exhorting men to not hit their women, but I think we need to address the cause of domestic violence. Sadly, this behavior is learned from childhood.
Parents don't want to believe that spanking their young boys will have an adverse effect on them in later years, but this is where the seeds are planted. Violence is violence.
When a child is struck by a parent, he learns several things immediately: That it's OK to hit someone smaller and that it's OK to physically lash out when you're angry.
Nobody wants to hear this, but I speak from firsthand experience. I am now 50 and, with my second wife, have a 2-year-old boy. I have never spanked him and am so happy to see him not fearing me like I did my own dad. He is very happy and stable and I envy him. I am determined to do everything I can to give him a strong emotional foundation.
We can't expect our young boys to grow up as gentlemen if we are not gentle to them in their formative years.
Gilbert Emata
Wailuku
