Get balance right when raising kids

In a country beset by violence against women and children, any allegation of an assault against a minor should be taken seriously.

And more so when the person alleged to have committed the crime is a man in charge of a key institution of our justice system, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.

Although Robert McBride has released an impassioned statement denying the allegations that he throttled and hit his teenage daughter in his car and has characterised the story as part of a plot against him, the matter is worthy of thorough investigation.

He says that he merely admonished her out of concern for her dropping school marks, rebellious behaviour and recent discovery of a note that allegedly indicates she could be experimenting with drugs.

Both his daughter’s version and his version should be held up for scrutiny and the law should be allowed to take its course. Ultimately the truth will come out.

The issue of the assault has raised some debate around the tension between the rights of children to be respected and protected from harm and the right and responsibility of parents to discipline and admonish their offspring.

Of course, assaulting a child is taking discipline to an extreme. Rebuke, chastisement and correction have their place, but these cannot justify abusing a child and unleashing an onslaught of violence against their dignity.

Children require guidance and nurture from their parents and guardians to prepare them to face the challenges of being human.

It is the role of adults to teach them life lessons and to help them to develop judiciousness and the ability to discern between what is right and wrong. As part of this process, they have to be taught about cause and effect and the consequences for their choices.

Many parents use this to justify an uncritical resort to punishment as opposed to taking time to reason with their children.

It has become all the more important today for parents to equip themselves with the wide spectrum of tools and resources they can use in raising their children.

It’s important to maintain the delicate balance between parents’ responsibility and the inalienable rights of their children. And the onus is and will always be on parents.