Proper discipline

There we saw him walking by himself on an unusually un-crowded street of Manila. He was probably around ten years old, definitely no older than twelve. Now seeing children walking alone aimlessly on the streets in this country is not an uncommon site but there was something that made this particular instance standout to me. Maybe it was because this poor kid was drenched in tears. Or maybe it was because he was butt naked.

The first time we drove right pass the kid but then we decided to circle back around. This time as we approached him my friend rolled down the window to ask him what had happened. In the back of my mind I thought maybe he had been beaten up by a group of other kids who ended up taking his clothes. Or in the worst case scenario he was abducted and then tossed on the street naked. But all the possible scenarios that ran thru my head ended up being so far off.

The kid didn't even attempt to stop crying in order to answer my friend's question. Instead the lady that stood behind him readily shouted back an answer. The lady was his mother and as a form of punishment she had made her child walk up and down this Manila city street while completely naked.

Holy $#!% what the ^*@# is up with the people out here? They have no child abuse laws out here? Then again they probably do but just like every other law out here it's one that no one abides by. In the States that woman would be in jail but out here she's just disciplining her kid.

That kid is going to grow up to have some major psychological problems.