11-year-old suffers
from ‘birthday beats’
PHILIPSBURG--A young boy (11) suffered a severe beating at the hands of fellow classmates on the morning of his 11th birthday, which he later learnt was a tradition called “Birthday beats,” at the school.
That tradition is one in which a child is hit according to his age, and it has caused the boy’s mother, Lilieth Wade, founder of Caribbean Child Protection Ministries, to issue a strong plea to youths encouraging them to “stop the violence now.”
Wade says she is completely satisfied with the school’s handling of the incident and has opted to keep the name of the school from this article. However, she said what she learnt from her son, was alarming and forces her to wonder what would happen to the younger generation.
Wade’s son said he was beaten by three boys who punched him eleven times each and once for good luck. His bruise which was inflicted over a week ago still stands out on his right hand which was swollen for days.
Strangely enough, the accused children and Wade’s son still get along, according to the son, and they have not distanced themselves from him, although he complained about the beating they dealt him.
Wade, whose ministry raises awareness of child abuse and teaches children self-protection, said she believes all children have the right to feel safe and would like parents to be aware that this practice can become very dangerous.
She said, “I always encourage my son to be non-violent. Three weeks after we migrated to this island, he was playing with a younger boy who hit him very hard with a baseball bat and left a permanent scar on his shoulder. This was his first personal encounter with violence.”
Wade wants parents to take a closer look at their children’s attitude toward violence and do more to guide them away from this pattern as a way of life. She hopes that by making public this incident, parents would become more concerned about what happens to their children at school.
