Early Childhood Education: Child abuse and Cultural Norms

Child Abuse and Cultural Norms
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Child Abuse and Cultural Norms
Child abuse and cultural norms are different in several ways. Child abuse is any form of mistreatment of a child by an adult, threatening or violent to the child. On the other hand, cultural norms are rules and expectations of a culture by which it influences members' behavior. One of the differences between the two activities is that an adult can decide to inflict child abuse which may not be part of their cultural norms. Child abuse can be an individual's activity that is not tied to any communal practice.
In some instances, however, some cultural practices inflict violence and suffering on children and should be considered child abuse. Child abuse is common amongst parents trying to discipline their children (GeoBeats, 2012). For instance, many parents inflict pain, especially through corporal punishment on their children, to correct behavior. Whereas this might be a cultural norm, some parents opt for better ways of disciplining their children that are not abusive. Even though some cultural norms are streamlined to ensure they do not cause child abuse, some children still get abused in private.
Cultural norms vary across various cultures because a practice could be acceptable in one culture and unacceptable in another, for example, corporal punishment. Whereas cultural practice is acceptable in some cultures depending on their history and activities, child abuse is unacceptable in all forms (Killion, 2017). Children should not be mistreated under whatever circumstance, regardless of the personal views of the perpetrator. Some forms of cultural practices are also not viewed as forms of child abuse, and it is necessary to differentiate the two. Therefore child abuse and cultural norms are different because not all forms of cultural practices ar...