殴打儿童(Beating children)

　　it is quite common for parents to beat their children, because they think eating is a good way to make children learn and behave well. one of my neighbors made a very strict demand on his son and scolded him bitterly or smacked him whenever he was lazy or disobedient. to justify what he did, he said,” spare the rod and ruin the child.”

　　actually beating is a violent way of treating children. it does more harm and causes more hurt than good to children’s physical and psychological health. however, beating children is common occurrence in our life. many children become disable because their parents hit them too hard. some lost their hearing and some became lame. some children develop an internal hatred for their parents and protest by running away from home. others may become so fearful of their parents that they tremble at the sight of their angry parents. a mother, for example, even went so far as to beat her son to death because she was not satisfied with his study. likewise, it is not unusual that the child murdered his parents because of the extreme contradiction between them. how can children learn and grow healthily under such circumstance?

　　quite often parents will be torn by pangs of regret and remorse after they have beaten their children. they feel very sad in the rest of their lives. but it is already too late. how can they bring their handicapped child back to healthy one? how can they relieve pains in their children’s heart so easily? we can say beating hurts both children and parents. it is absolutely a bad way to make children learn and behave well.

　　exactly speaking, children are also human beings. they have self-respect and should be respected. parents should understand and guide them by advising, persuading and reasoning. they may criticize them without hurting their self-respect, without crushing them. but parents should never resort to the violent, inhumane way of beating!