EDITORIAL — Betrayal of the worst kind

A pastor who founded a child care facility in Pampanga is now facing accusations of child abuse.

According to two 12-year-old boys who escaped his facility, the students there experienced physical, verbal, and psychological abuse allegedly committed by the pastor and some house parents.

Specifically, they were forced to kneel for long periods, starved or sometimes fed spoiled food, or not allowed to play, among others. The center was also found to have fire hazards and registration violations.

The 158 children at the facility have been rescued by authorities.

We have to give those accused the benefit of the doubt, everyone is innocent until proven guilty after all. However, if those allegations are proven to be true then this would constitute a betrayal of the worst kind.

When people are in positions of authority or positions where they are expected to mold the values of others, any offense they commit against those who they are supposed to serve or to guide is more serious.

And this goes double for children whose moral compass hasn’t yet been fully established.

This is because such adults are supposed to be good examples to follow. When someone who is supposed to be followed --in this case a teacher-- becomes one who shouldn’t be followed, this creates a crisis in the children they are supposed to be teaching.

When a teacher says that violence isn’t the way but inflicts it on children, preaches about charity but withholds food, or says that children must be valued but exposes them to risk, the children will wonder what to believe or to follow.

This doesn’t just go for pastors running child care centers or teachers handling classes of students, this goes for anyone who is supposed to guide children. When parents say littering is bad, smoking is unhealthy, or lazing around isn’t productive, etc. but do it anyway, children will wonder what to believe or to follow.