The Skin of Children

So there is finally movement in the fight towards the banning of the use of electric shock as a ‘treatment’ option for children with disabilities. I have read a lot of response to this announcement. A lot of, forgive me, shock. A lot of outrage. A lot of people waiting with bated breath to hear if the ban goes through.

And then there is skin.

Still being shocked.

The skin of children.

is being shocked.

While we wait. While people have meetings, with coffee and muffins, to decide if they will ban this ‘therapeutic procedure’ They will look at evidence and hear arguments, weigh public opinion and write reports.

The skin of children.

Is being shocked.

It astonishes me that proponents talk about the studies, evidence based reports, that show the effectiveness of shocking …

… the skin of children.

And it astonishes me further that people can read a data chart and see every data point that shows exactly when and with what power a shock was given to …

… the skin of children.

No one asks the right question. How could it be that we came to shock the skin of children? What kind of distorted thinking made the idea possible? A procedure that would be considered cruel to use with animals was acceptable to use with children. Who said, first, Hey, let’s shock …

… the skin of children.

The answer is easy. ‘Children’ never entered into the discussion. Because humanity is denied to the different the word ‘inhumane’ isn’t seen to apply. You can not be inhumane to that which is not human. You can be inhumane to animals – but as you know there are bioethics professors who believe that killing a cat is a more serious crime than killing a baby with an intellectual disability.

They shock the skin of children.

And we’re still talking about whether or not this is acceptable practice.

People are fighting in order to continue to be able to shock …

… the skin of children.

This is the world we live in.

This is the world that the disabled know.

The one that would shock the skin of our children.