Childhood aggression rooted in malnutrition and peer groups, 1

BY FR. SHAY CULLEN

A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy in Virginia, USA went to school as millions did every day but he was different. He had a tendency of violent behavior. He bullied other children, picked fights, kicked others and was unruly in the classroom.

One day, he reached into his backpack, took out a gun and fired three shots at his teacher. She was seriously wounded but survived.

Pedro, an 11-year-old Filipino boy, was sent by his impoverished, widowed mother with five children to stay with his maternal aunt and uncle. They beat and whipped him frequently. The bruises and scars on his body is evidence of that cruel abuse.

He was referred to the Preda Home for Boys as a very underweight, sad, depressed and confused child. He was holding in feelings of hurt and pain, anger and resentment. He was a boy against the world.

He was stressed and tense and, with the slightest provocation by another boy, he would fly into a rage and attack this tormenter with kicks, blows, cursing and punching. The aggressive violent behavior was shocking.

At the Preda Home for Boys, he had Emotional Release Therapy and released his anger and pain in the therapy room and he recovered. He became calm and grew in maturity and self-confidence. He found the courage to file a criminal case against his aunt. The aunt was arrested and posted bail. Soon, she will be arraigned and the case will come to trial.

Maria, 15, lived with her nine brothers and sisters and a grandmother, a scavenger in extreme poverty. They lived in a cramped 15-square meter shack in a slum in Pasig.

Maria went on the streets to beg for food and was sexually abused and raped by neighborhood men. She became depressed and hopeless and turned to selling herself for money. 

Maria was emotionally disturbed, wild with anger and showed extreme aggressive behavior to the authorities when they picked her up on the street and brought to the Preda home. She was angry at the world, hated being always hungry, and had nothing but the clothes she wore. 

When Maria first arrived at the Preda Home for abused children, she was aggressive and bullied other children until staff immediately intervened. Yet, she chose to stay although free to leave. She will surely recover with the care and therapy. The source of her aggression is likely severe malnutrition from birth, lack of love, care and food and being raped by brutal adults. 

But aggressive behavior may not always arise from malnutrition, hunger and deprivation. A few months ago, a student fraternity at a Catholic college in Manila called the newly-recruited candidates for membership. One by one, the group of 12 well-off students started shouting abuse at the candidates. They humiliated and degraded them. They bullied them as if they were animals. 

They selected the first student for initiation by hazing and began to kick, punch, and beat him. They used wooden paddles and beat him in a violent frenzy. They continued to beat the boy to death then buried the body. Fifty-eight students have been murdered in this way in the past years in various Philippine universities. Is it just an initiation practice out of control to inculcate conformity, loyalty and cooperation in a group?

Perhaps, it is the peer pressure to conform and belong to a select group that demands they imitate the aggressive practices of the group. It is most likely that the “bad social genes” of aggressive behavior is carried to the next generation of the fraternity members. (To be continued)/PN

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here