Slapping a child can lead to hearing loss, learning disability —Experts

Published by

3 years ago

Henry was arrested after slapping a 7-year-old boy in Ada causing perforations in his left eardrum. The assault was prompted by the boy accidentally hitting his vehicle while playing with a tyre.

“He was playing with a tire when it went ahead of him and hit a stationary car within the compound belonging to one of their neighbours. When the man found out, instead of calling his father to discuss compensation if any was needed, he went to where Hammed was and slapped him thrice,” retorted Mrs Aminat Tiamiyu, Hammed’s grandmother.

Hammed’s mother rushed him to the hospital because of the pain he was in, where an examination determined his left eardrum was perforated. For a long time, he still can’t hear using the damaged ear. The strength of the slap was much because Henry is a weight lifting enthusiast.

Injury to the ear due to physical abuse is a common occurrence among young persons. However, the condition is most times overlooked when the slap does not leave any obvious injury like the ear bleeding, swollen or affect the gait.

Whether it was a slap on the face, knock on the head or whack across the bottom, many of us were smacked by our parents when we were children. In fact, smacking is a form of discipline many parents still use to help control a child’s behaviour.

But a slap to the face, as a physical punishment is an unsafe form of discipline. For instance, a cross-sectional survey among secondary school students in Ekiti, South-Western Nigeria, showed that it is a common form of abuse in Nigeria that needs to be stopped because it could lead to hearing loss and learning disability, particularly in children.

A total of 130 students aged 13 and 16 years participated in the survey. Of the 130 students that were interviewed, 76 (58.5%) had been ear abused (slapped) at one time or the other. The majority (26.9%) of the students were slapped by their parents.

The left ear was mostly affected in 39 (51.3%) of them.

The most common reason for the slap was disobedience in 56 (73.7%) of the students. Only 5.4% reported the case of a slap to the appropriate authority. About 73.7% did not receive treatment or any form of intervention. Tests done showed that 32.9% (19.7 % male and 13.2 % female) of the respondents had mild hearing loss.

The researchers, in the 2018 edition of the International Journal of Innovative Research in Medical Science, said “Ear abuse, although poorly recognized and underreported is still common in our society. A prevalence of 58.4 % with 32.9% hearing loss was recorded in this study.

“There is need for a public enlightenment program in order to create awareness among teachers, school managers and parents so as to address these ugly trends and to prevent the late sequel of hearing loss and learning disability.”

Dr Ayotunde Fasunla, a consultant Ear, Nose, Throat specialist at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State stated that the severity of the force of a slap will determine the degree of injury and what part of the ear was hurt.

According to him, “sometimes some slap will not cause any injury to the ear apart from the pain and the pain is short-lasting. However, when the force is much, it could cause damage to key parts of the ear, like the eardrum, ear canal, ossicles(tiny ear bones), cochlea, or the vestibular nerve, leading to hearing loss and balance problems.”

He added that in rare cases, if the slap is so severe, it can actually cause fracture of the base of the skull as well as cause deviation in the angle of the mouth that is facial weakness, especially, when that leads to destruction or injury to the facial nerve.

Dr Fasunla declared “Someone who slaps a child to the extent that the child loses hearing or starts bleeding and then it gets infected or the child has a balance problem, you know, you have not done anything good to that child.

Other than the pain of that child, you have made the life of the child to be worse. So slapping a child for any reason should be discouraged. You should discipline a child such that you don’t inflict injury on the child’s body.”

He said parents should not neglect either report of a slap to the ear by their wards or children to be sure that they had not sustained any injury in their ear

The expert stated: “And then you ask if the child has some disability in the ear; vis-a-vis hearing loss, pain in the ear, or perception of noise in the ear or bleeding from the ear. Bleeding from the ear that is neglected, and now infection sets in, causing the child to have chronic ear discharge, lose hearing if the bones in the ear are affected or the eardrum is ruptured; or imbalance.”

No doubt, there is nothing wrong with feeling the impulse to spank. Most parents experience it at least occasionally. But nearly all experts agree: It’s time to retire hitting for good. Spanking is not only ineffective, but it’s also actually harmful to a child’s physical, psychological and social development.

IN CASE YOU MISSED THESE FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

“It is gladdening that only six months after that memorable event, the Minister of Interior is back in Enugu to perform another significant and symbolic ceremony. This time, the Minister accompanied by the Acting Comptroller General of Immigration, is in the Coal City to unveil the enhanced E-Passport and Commission the Passport Production Centre for the South East situated in Enugu within this Complex.”

Speaking also, the Acting Comptroller General enthused that the people of the South East can now rejoice, pointing out that it was not that his Service oblivious of the suffering of the people but that time and resources had not permitted earlier action.

He commended Gov Ugwuanyi for his support and assistance to the State Command that had culminated in the realization of the project.

Responding, Aregbesola showered encomium on Ugwuanyi who he described as his good friend and one who has been of immense assistance to the Immigration Service in Enugu state.

The minister said not only does South East have a passport production centre within reach but also that the people now have access to an array of choices of the enhanced E-Passport that will aid their globe-trotting disposition.