Letters to the Editor
stackey-dackey
Published Letters: 324 Editor's Choice: 8
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I agree, Person
[Read the article: My brother abused me -- now our parents want us all together again!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I just can't beleive a 5 year old would sexually molest another child horrifically enough to put said child off of potty training for 6 months, without learning or seeing that behaviour somewhere else. I had a vague understanding of what sex was at that age, but I certainly wouldn't have thought to put anything anywhere.
I mean, was it out of maliciousness (he thought it would hurt his cousin) or did he think it was supposed to be pleasurable? I mean, these are the sort of questions that would really worry me.
I worked at a Child Development Center (3-5 year olds) and there was this whole brouhaha because the boys started playing this game where they ran around rubbing each others butt in a very sexual manner. One of the kids (a 5 year old) made the mistake of playing the game with his father, and got smacked for his trouble (ahh, parents) and this whole investigation arose. At first, I thought everyone was overreacting (and being homophobic, too boot, especially the dad who smacked his kid in front of me) but I talked to my friend who was a psychiatrist and she said that sort of behaviour in children that young was learned. She thought there was a good chance the kid who instigated the whole game was probably being molested. She was right of course. The person who taught him to play was doing a lot worse things to him than rubbing his butt though.
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Roselei
[Read the article: My brother abused me -- now our parents want us all together again!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]After reading your last response, I finally understand what you mean.
Wow. I'm not trying to be funny or anything, but it doesn't sound like your 5 year old nephew was doing this because he's a sexual sadist OR was curious about sex. I had a similiar problem as your nephew as a 5 year old in fact, and when my parents finally found out, they dragged me to a dirty and dingy emergency room in the New York City (we were on vacation) and the doctors did some pretty horrific things to disenpact me. Ugh. (Wow this is getting personal.)
Well, they seemed horrific to a child who doesn't really understand the why and the what for. I remember it, and even though everyone kept telling me it was for my own good, I resented my parents for quite some time. It was painful, sure, but the shame kept me up all night crying. And my parents, god love 'em, were real jerks about it too.
You are correct, though, that if your nephew is acting out his treatment on his siblings and your son, then THAT is the serious problem. Not where he learned about it, or the apparent sexual nature of the crime, but that he would chose to hurt his family in the way he was hurt...I don't know. That is just awful.
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I probably shouldn't bother, after 1,000 letters, but here goes
[Read the article: A new low in Clinton bashing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Can anyone truly believe her remark about Robert Kennedy's assassination was anything other than an unfortunate reference to another June primary battle?"
Joan...yes some people beleive just that. THAT is Hillary's problem. Not Obama, not Olberman and the collective punditry; it's the perception she is evil. A perception which her campaign didn't try to combat. She was always too busy trying to show what a fighter she is that she never thought it would make her come off ruthless, cold, and calculating. Ruthless, cold and calculating enough to wish her rival gets shot at a rally in Los Angeles.
The problem with Clinton is she didn't do a good job crafting her image. She should have realized, like Obama did when it comes to race, that misogyny and sexism still exist. As much as people in this country worry that a soft, weak female will capitulate to our enemies, there is a basic antipathy to women who are perceived as being cold, calculating, and evil. I'm not saying she needed to bake cookies or kiss babies and puppies, but I think all of this could have avoided if way back at the beginning of the primary, she showed her softer side. Or before the primary even; if her time in the Senate hadn't been so much about showing she was as tough as the guys (we already knew that) but that she was still a woman who had emotions and feelings and not just set of ambitions.
Just like Obama tried his damndest in the beginning NOT to be the offensive, scary black man or the black canidate. Its a tightrope any minority running for president has to walk, one which Clinton didn't even bother with because she assumed (arrogance) that people only vote facts, figures, and experience.
Clinton had the chance to reacquaint the country with her and her husband and she blew it, big time.