Our Tiny Slaves

“I’m going to count to three and if you don’t come here, you are going to get a spanking!  Don’t tell me no, you do what you are told.”  Yes, I am talking to you, the reader.  I guess I must apologize for my rudeness.  Obviously, it would be ridiculous of me to assume that a full-grown adult would simply do as I command.  As adults, we would be highly offended and angered at such disrespectful and demanding statements, yet the children of our society and many others, are subjected to these types of forced submission every day.  Oppression of children is a seriously unrecognized problem that creates a wide variety of consequences.

The New Webster’s Expanded Dictionary defines oppression as, “to oppress is to overpower or to harass”.  Oppression is also defined as “the unjust exercise of authority”. (Regoli and Hewitt 460)  Children are classified as oppressed by both definitions.  Many leading psychologists feel that the underlying cause for the oppression of children is the basic belief that children are possessions of adults.  In a world socially ordered by adults, a child’s rights and freedoms are generally restricted by his or her parents and other adult members of society.  These restrictions are oppression.

Children are oppressed in many ways and in varied degrees.  Oppression occurs in many forms.  Scolding, revoking privileges, spanking, and intimidation are all ways in which adults reinforce their superiority of children.  The means of oppression described here are all considered socially acceptable and are not considered abusive by most members of society.  A more extreme degree of oppression against children is obvious in physical and sexual abuse, neglect and verbal abuse.  Although the degrees of oppression vary, oppression’s results are similar in most children.

According to the Differential Oppression Theory (Regoli and Hewitt 211) children respond to oppression in one of four ways; passive acceptance, exercise of illegitimate coercive power, manipulation of one’s peers, and retaliation.”  Passive acceptance means that a child holds all negative feelings toward their oppressor inside and eventually learns to live with the oppression, all the while building a hatred for those who overpower them.  Illegitimate coercive power is an attempt made by an oppressed child to gain a sense of power over their oppressor.  Manipulating their peers is another way children try to attain power.  Retaliation is a fourth way in which children respond to oppression.  Retaliation may include acts of violence, vandalism, and suicide.

The oppression of children is a little known problem.  As parents, we know that it is our duty to guide and nurture our children’s social, intellectual, and spiritual growth.  Sometimes this guidance requires us to expect our children to adhere to family rules and the regulations of society.  As a parent, I understand that some oppression is necessary, but how much is too much and do we really have the right to demand that another human being follow our rules just because they are smaller than us?  Just like the slaves, children are expected to conform to our will and if the do not, then some form of punishment ensues.  I thought slavery was dead!