INVISIBLE VIOLENCE

Violence is often misconstrued to hover around physical harm. Yet to decode the acrimony of violence one must also delve into the emotional jolt that it metes out to the victim. The vicious claws of Child Violence stretch not only up to the bodily injuries caused to a child but also creep up his psyche. Child violence often finds its roots in domestic violence.  A child, who witnesses physical hostility amongst his family members, becomes indirectly affected by violence as well, even if at a subconscious and indirect level. The direct beat up of children within the four walls of his house often tampers his soul for life, not just his body. The reasons for inflicting such pain on harmless toddlers vary from attempts at taming them to moulding their innocently rebellious minds to gross love for sadism. Elders fail to often understand that even though they own their children but they cannot for any motive enslave them.

If we were to actually enumerate the effects of violence the list would probably be unending; however it becomes an absolute necessity to list out what adversities the violence creates in an un-moulded mind. A child’s mind is as impressionable as it can be and violence would leave it marred forever in every aspect of his/her life. The child who has faced violence at home or surroundings would have a depressed mind and probably fathom anger and react at situations in a manner that would be uncalled for. Apart from this, the violence would ensure that the child develops an inferiority complex that would be a major deterrent in any progressive thought or action that the child would want to take.  Not to forget, the physical impairment that violence causes in the child. A child’s entire life could be ruined if the violence is at an intolerable level.

A child that is brought into the world is a responsibility and it is time that he/she is stopped being treated as an entity. Each child deserves a life wherein he/she develops fearlessly. Of course it is equally important that we do not make a child callous in the endeavour of giving him/her a violence free environment. However, it is strongly advocated that the sense of judgment should be imbibed in the child because of accountability to the world at large and not because of fear. We must understand that with the essence of being physically and mentally inferior to anybody else would never help in the process of the child’s personality development. Nothing could ever be achieved with violence and probably nothing ever will be. So, let us all try and work constructively towards making this world a better place for the coming generations to live in.

- SRIRADHA GUPTA
  MAEM (Sem I)