Developmental Psychology teaches us many things about how people change over time, including how parents’ treatment of their children growing up can make a lasting imprint on them, and even lead to the subsequent emulation of the toxic behavior they suffered as kids.
“Sometimes the way we treat other people,” this TikToker, Jen Hamilton, recounts telling the father of a small child, “is a direct reflection of how we were treated as children.” She’s right on the money. In fact, Jen was not only dead-on in her words but also in her swift action to defend a 5-year-old little girl.
We all like to think that we would speak up upon witnessing an injustice taking place before our eyes. But the truth is, people tend to mind their own business and are mostly unwilling to intrude in a situation that has nothing to do with them. However, there are instances wherein it is impossible to overestimate how important it can be to speak up when nobody else is willing to.
Although she is uncertain if what she did was for the best, Jen may have made a significant difference in this child’s life.
See something, say something
I am not advocating we ought to go around sticking our noses in every stranger’s business. However, sometimes someone has to stand up for the underdog, the vulnerable, the defenseless, the ones that can’t speak up for themselves. That’s what Jen did upon witnessing a father berating his 5-year-old for not being able to read the menu at a pizza parlor correctly.
It was her husband who first noticed this man treating his young daughter in a way that could scar the girl for life, even leading her to feel like she was always incompetent and never good enough. This hostile attitude was also not a rare occurrence, as the father himself admitted to Jen that other people had called him out on his parenting demeanor before. And if this individual is willing to behave in this manner in public, who’s to say how he speaks to his child behind closed doors?
Despite having her heart hammering in her chest with the fear of being “punched in the teeth” by a clearly short-tempered man, Jen still went out of the way to offer him some much-needed perspective on the psychological harm he could be inflicting upon his child.
Most of the commenters had words of admiration for what Jen did, well aware of the difference she could have just made in this little girl’s life:
“”Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.” How you made her feel will forever be imprinted on her little heart. I love all that you are, Ms. Hamilton,” remarked one.
Another shared their own personal experience: “I was spoken to this way by my dad whenever I asked for help with my math homework, don’t remember much of that math but I still feel the way he made me feel. Thank you for standing up for her.”
The little girl deserved to see that the aggression she was facing for making a natural mistake was not supposed to be normal. Her father needed to know that the way he was treated growing up and how that affected him as an adult should be something that stops with him instead of passing on down the family tree. So, hopefully, even if it was a mere moment in their lives, Jen’s bravery has made a difference, helping this young child to one day become a grown-up who’s not a victim of social and emotional maladjustment inflicted upon her by her caretaker. Jen’s initiative is something we all should aspire to, in order to make the world around us a little bit better than how we find it.