Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse is another form of cruelty against children. Instead of making the child feel happy, with good self-esteem, safe, loved, understood, supported, and protected, emotionally abusive parents or caregivers harm the child’s self-worth and emotional well-being, becoming a constant threat to their mental and emotional health. 

These cruel actions towards children include not giving them or showing them love, rejecting them even when they want to hug or kiss you, making threats, constant criticism, shaming, embarrassing them in private or in front of others, making them live in fear, screaming, cursing, making them feel that they are not worth anything, insulting and humiliating them, for instance, saying “you are stupid” or “you are useless,” “you are worthless,” “I wish you never existed,” “you will never achieve anything,” name-calling, isolating them, and not allowing them to play or socialize with others. 

Parents must understand that these abuses will be the painful memories a child will have from their parents for life. We often wonder why we see children who, when they become adults, do not want to know anything about their parents, who avoid being close to them at all costs and do not want to talk to them even over the phone. Abusive parents should be aware that when the years go by and parents get elderly, they become vulnerable and start feeling the necessity to be closer to their children, but it is too late. Repentance will be useless because the bond has been broken for many years. 

Please treat your children well and do not mistreat them, so that in the future, your children will want to be close to you and will not despise you. Old age comes to everyone in this life, and according to what you have sown, that is what you will reap. If you were bad to your children, abandoned and alone is how you will end up due to these abusive experiences and unforgettable painful memories caused by the parents when the children were younger and felt vulnerable.