FIRST RECORDED CHILD ABUSE?

[摘要] The following, written by Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), is perhaps the first description of child abuse inflicted under the guise of discipline:Passing along our street, how many times I have wished to stage a thumping row in order to avenge the lads I have seen attacked, beaten, and flayed by some father or mother insane with wrath! You see them sally forth, their eyes on fire and throats aroar, often against a babe just come from the breast. And, behold, the little fellow lamed and stunned with blows, while our courts take no notice of it—as though these maimed and crippled victims were not members of our commonwealth. No one would hesitate to send to the gallows a judge who had condemned a criminal out of anger. Why, then, are parents and teachers permitted, out of passion, to lash and punish their children? It is no longer correction, but revenge. Chastisement is a medicine for the young, and would we tolerate a doctor who raged against his patient?

[学科分类] 儿科学