[orangecomputer]

That's a very very logical perspective of it, considering it from both sides.

A lot of times, my parents (mother and stepfather) played it off as "he needs to be disciplined etc", although they omitted certain truths when it came time to talk to the police. A punch to the side of the head was a "clip over the ear" etc. The police however seemed not to care, I will never forget hearing their "Ah yeah." reactions to it, but again they face the same thing as mentioned above. Even if you're not legally allowed to hit a child now, it's still seen in some places here as an unwritten omission of law to discipline your child if it is "Reasonable", such as a smack on the bum etc.

Indeed being kept inside the home wasn't really the bad part of it all. I have always been much of a loner, and it was very likely I wouldn't have done much outside of the home. I did sometimes "Run away" for nights, and I would walk through the city or walk out into the country for a very very very long time at night wondering where to go or what to do. Now that I look back on it, I'm actually very surprised albeit greatful that I never was abducted or robbed. But at that point, I didn't really care where I went or what happened because anything seemed better than what was going on at home.