Problem
This activity will require your observation skills. Over the next two weeks, pay attention to your surroundings. While you are out and about in your community, i.e. in a grocery store, on the sidewalk, in the park, a restaurant, a sporting event, etc. without intervening or passing judgment look around and observe the interactions between parents and their children. Do you hear anything in their interactions that could be viewed as emotionally abusive behavior? Think to yourself: what may be causing the parent's reaction? Do you feel they may be overreacting? What is the child doing in the situation? By completing this activity you will have insight into the interactions between parent and child and you will develop a heightened awareness of the most elusive forms of abuse.
Record your observations in a diary-like format listing date, time and what you heard or observed. You should have at least half a dozen entries.