different views on justice

today a very obnoxious 3 yr-old (patient's son) kicked me. he didn't kick me hard. no pain. and he more or less kicked my pant leg, then brushed my shin w/ his 12-inch leg and 5-inch foot. but it was definitely intentional. and then he smirked. i responded with a stern, "don't kick people. that's not nice!"

i proceeded to tell yoly and she responded with, "oooooooh. i woulda kicked him back and said, 'you don't like that, do you? so don't do it to others!"

and since i have to tell every remotely traumatic story at least five times in order to get it out of my system (therapy/catharsis, whatever you want to call it), i told terry. she did not hear yoly's response. nonetheless, she responded with, "oooooooh. i woulda kicked him back. like, 'oops. sorry!' don't tell anyone i said that."

so, i'm often alone in my views within this team. and, of course i attribute it to my east asian upbringing. it's probably not just that.

my analysis is that, for me, the shame of being reprimanded by an adult SHOULD have brought some guilt to this toddler, which would have led to behaviour change and rehabilitation. now that i think about it, that probably won't work for this kid.

for my teammates, it didn't matter that the boy was only three, or that he was a patient/patient's relative. eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, b****!

WAPAH!

ok. just kidding. yeah. i dunno.
there are differences in discipline and perception of discipline.