Please don't do that

At the end of my tuition session today, my students, the twin girls got a massive yelling from their grandaunt. Apparently, they screwed up the timing for tuition and while I thought it was a pretty minor issue, they had a terrible scolding.

Anyway, when I was leaving the place, i gave a lift to the said grandaunt to a nearby hospital. During the journey, she was saying how she had to yell at them so that they would listen and be more obedient. She also said that she took them in, cos she felt sorry becos of their family background and it was tragic if the girls continue to stay with their dad. That was when I found out more about their story.

These two girls' parents don't seem to care very much about them. In fact, they don't see their parents often. Their father has re-married and during the times when they were staying with their stepmom and stepbrother, they were constantly being abused. Said aunt mentioned that the younger twin once got beaten up so bad she had to get a minor eye operation. And the elder one was hit on the head or something. To top it up, it was said that the stepmom would burn them.

I'm not entirely sure what she used to burn them. But the word, burn, itself is a terrible act to use on children, irregardless of the tools used. They had it so bad once, that they ran away from home. At the age of 7.

When I heard that, I don't know why, but it pained me.

We hear stories of child abuse all the time. And you feel sorry for the kids that you read about in the papers. But when it really happens to someone you know, and perhaps somebody you've grown quite fond of, it really cuts.

Now, they're staying with their grandaunt and while I would assume it's a smaller place, they're much happier. They don't ever want to move back with their father. I have heard that should they fail their coming tests again, they'll gonna have to move back.

I tried not to be too hard on them today. I really want them to do better. I don't want them to ever move back and be abused again.