Are mothers beginning to turn against their own children?

By Nic
@academic2 (7000)
Uganda
January 17, 2008 1:12am CST
Recent reports in my country and other parts of the world have left me wondering whether the real spirit of motherhood is dying or even dead already! We woke up to a rude shock to learn that a mother in a neighboring town yesterday chopped her three kids with a wood axe and sat by to them bleed to death. She was arrested. Another told her 15 year old to fetch water from a nearby water tap-the boy did not and she clobbered her son to death. I read similar stories elsewhere and my concern grew-in Dheli, a mother strangled her infant baby girl to death to avoid the common tradition of having to pay her dowry when she grew up! In Palestine, a mother is also reported to have suffocated her 17 year old girl for getting pregnant outside wedlock-killing her was to avoid her bringing shame to the family-now these trend is really worrying me-are mothers beginning to turn against their own children? Is the spirit of motherhood dying away in our time?
2 people like this
11 responses
@fianne (1057)
• United States
17 Jan 08
hi academic2, how are you? i am a mother now too. i believe that motherhood is dying. if so, we all have no hearts. all of us can be mothers even if you are man. how? you give all what you can like a mother. there are just situations and lack of knowledge in our time that inhibits the mothers to become unwise with decisions. they need help, they don't need persecution. they need guidance, they don't need you to yell and be superior like you know everything.
1 person likes this
@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
17 Jan 08
It seems to me we all need help and the helping profession, especially social workers and counsellors are needed in our time more than ever! Thanks for your response
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@fianne (1057)
• United States
18 Jan 08
yes academic2. i really think so... parenting is a very nice vocation, shall we say, but if a mother cannot do it anymore and cannot become a good mother anymore, that is when help comes in such as counselling. advices can help too in times of trouble by mothers. well, hey, this is not only good for moms, this is also for fathers too. parents are parents, the couple should be involved with this parenting.
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@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
19 Jan 08
Oh my. that is awful. I don't know what the world is turning into any more. People are killing each other evry day. Ir makes me so scared to step out into this world any more because you never know if you will be returning.
@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
23 Jan 08
A really razy world but you dont need to fear steppng out, you only need to tak care steph LOL
@subha12 (18441)
• India
18 Jan 08
It is really the case I think too. I have also seen in the news that nowadys there are such happenings taht we can never picture about a mother. I do not know why is it so.But yes, it is happening. May be the world is getting dangerous day by day now mothers are not so as we picturised them.
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@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
23 Jan 08
My mother was the loveliest woman under the sun, she could never hurt me, instead she loved us so much i guess she could die for us-that is why I agree with you the picture we see is not typical of real mothers- areal mother just mothers-she never kills
@Uroborus (908)
• Canada
18 Jan 08
The sad incidences that you described are not happening for the first time. Ever since humans existed there have been people who just aren't all there, and even evil. Picking a few stories from news media doesn't convince me that there is a new trend. This is because the media filters many stories and picks only certain ones that it figures will give a maximum impact. This is hardly an unbiased sampling. The world is a big place and the media has the technology to search the world over for the most sensational stories. Take them as sad occurrences that should never have happened. But don't necessarily despair that they are indicative of some new, larger, trend.
@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
18 Jan 08
I agree absolutely uroborus, I also appreciate the fact that these are not new incidences, they have been around, all am pissed up about is how an epitom of love and care embodied in motherhood suddenly turns around to unleash so much lovelessness!
1 person likes this
@honeylore23 (1081)
• United States
18 Jan 08
Well I have already heard issues about it. I think it happens all over the world. I have heard an issue about a student who is pregnant but then afraid to have it known to the public and the consequences of her becoming pregnant chooses to remove the fetus from her womb and throw the fetus in the garbage inside the campus. Another issue too, is some mother have their child put in box and put into river. But I don't think motherhood is dying. There are reasons behind why they are doing it, but sometimes reasons they have are unreasonable.
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@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
23 Jan 08
No, motherhood can only be challenged by a few demented mothers, but it can never die, to be a mother is an instinct-do you know a hen with chicks will scratch you if you threaten thir chicks? Its mothers' love
• United States
18 Jan 08
i completely think they are because my mom is been acting crazy towards me im 19 but she still attacks me an whatnot. nothing violent juss angry talking. i wonder if its because of the talk about the 2012 things....
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@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
23 Jan 08
Comeon! What is gona happen to women in 2012? Are mothers goin to die? Tell us more jugga..
• Canada
20 Jan 08
Lets not forget that the media likes to show you things that will shock you. They tell you about the horrible things happening because its gets a reaction out of you. They don't tell you about the hundreds of mothers who contentedly care for their children day in and day our, who clean up vomit and scrub peanut butter off walls without complaining, who keep their kids safe from predators and enrich their mind. They don't tell you about the hundreds of mothers sitting next to hospital beds while their children struggle to get well. Or the mothers who sit caring for children that never will get well. The don't tell you how these mothers can be so involved in parenting they forget to eat, sleep on chairs, and don't have time to change their clothes. They don't tell you the millions of mothers who send their children off too school every day with a smile and a kiss, and a healthy lunch in their backpacks. They don't tell you this because it's 'not newsworthy'. It won't shock you, and draw you in, so the media sees it as not worth talking about. Motherhood is not dying – it is alive and well, and always will be.
@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
10 May 08
eah, the media is trying to do alot to publicize these horrible side of motherhood!
@williamjisir (22819)
• China
17 Jan 08
Hello dear academic friend. Weird things could happen everywhere every day. We cannot expect everyone to be as normal as we are. To this kind of people who have such weird ideas and actions are really so scary to us, especially to those who are related to them. In fact, it shows us a lot that there is something evil in their mind as to do evil things like killing not only their kids, but also do harm to the others. The same thing happened to a father who threw his kids into the river about a week ago when there were so many discussions about the same topic. . . I am wondering what on earth has happened them.
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@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
17 Jan 08
Yeah Sir William, it is not just women who are weird today, in my country a man sloughtered all his family members of 5 children and a wife-on child entered in a cloth basket and covered himself in dirty clothes, the killer fathr looked everywhere but could not find the little boy-after failing to find him, he went ahead to hung himself-it was completly shocking, what surprises me is why direct your anger on your own family, why? Is it a show of love? It really makes me sad! Thanks for your response
1 person likes this
@ersmommy1 (12588)
• United States
17 Jan 08
I do not believe that motherhood is dying. Yes we hear more about these instances. With the advent of the internet It is easier to find them. With CNN going global. The human population of this planet is 6,641,114,623. That is 6.6 billion people. That is alot of people. Alot of parents. Most of us cherish our children. I know my child is a gift. When we wake up it is with an I love you. When we go to bed it is with I love you. Most mothers do not turn on their children. If that were the case, the world population wouldn't be boooming. Now, should some people take parenting classes? Yes sure. Should some people not have children? Probably. But most of us don't murder. I for one cherish my child. And I know there are MANY others for whom this is the case!
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@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
18 Jan 08
ersmommy, you are very right on the human populaton and I agree with you that not all moms are as mean as those i have sited-about the parenting classes, i think this is a social problem that parenting classes would probably not fix-I see it a mental health problem that should spur helping professions to more serious actions to deal wit the growing problem-most of the problems are precipitatd by frustrations of day to day life like broken relationships, poverty and war related trauma.
1 person likes this
• United States
18 Jan 08
Unfortunately, this type of behavior has been going on for years. It's just now being brought out. For some ungodly reason the parents are behaving badly for so many reasons, ranging from mental illness, selfishness and the financial strain of raising the children. Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to make excuses. I am only stating a fact. I feel that if a mother has any "inkling" that she may not fulfill her duties as a mother to love and care for her child, then she should not have children. Some single parent mothers feel abandoned by the fathers of these children and have the attitude that they got "stuck" with the children. This attitude manifests in the abuse of the children. If you can't stand the heat of parenthood, get out of the fire. Do not take it out on the children.
@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
18 Jan 08
These are facts alradford and I absolutely agree with you that mental illness, selfishness and poverty are blending dangerously here for children at the hands of their own parents
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@angieang (262)
• United States
17 Jan 08
I believe that things like these have been going on for years! The simple fact of the matter is how advanced the media has become. Now days newspapers are old news. And the one thing that people watch in the news are all of the bad happenings, media tends to steer away from the best news causing these bad stories to seem super high in numbers, not saying that they aren't high, because I believe 1 murder is too high of a number!
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@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
18 Jan 08
Yes I believe with globalization, the world is getting smaller and the media tend to bring to light what happens allover the world more quickly and easily
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