Parenting

Thanks Sterling for the link to this story about a particularly gruesome Liberian childrearing practice that has caught the attention of authorities in New York.

A Staten Island man was charged with assault and child endangerment after he admitted to rubbing a hot yellow pepper on his 11- and 8-year-old sons' naked bodies - including their genitals, including their faces. Why hot yellow peppers? The Staten Island Advance reports that the father, Ganganue Gonesh, explained to the police, "I use pepper to rub on their body because this is how we are disciplined in our country [Liberia], in Africa."

It's a common practice in Liberia, unfortunately.