Two brothers just received new bikes for Christmas. But before they are allowed to ride the bikes, their father instructs them both to wear helmets. He tells them to look in both directions before they cross a road, to always keep an eye out on each other. Both brothers thank their father before going outside. Now, the younger brother decides to take off his helmet. The older brother, not wanting his younger brother to get hurt, asks him to put his helmet back on. "I don't want to. It itches." the younger brother says. "Dad said to wear the helmet. Put it back on or you could get hurt!" the older brother says. "Dad isn't watching and you're not in charge of me! Just let me ride my bike!" the younger brother retorts. "You could fall and hit your head!" the older brother insists. "Shut up, you're not my boss!" the younger brother kicks off and rides his bike in circles while taunting the older brother, "See? Look, I'm fine! I know what I'm doing! Idiot!" And so this occurs over a period of weeks. The older brother obeys his father, wears his helmet, checks both directions before crossing any streets. The younger brother, puts on his helmet until he is out of his father's sight. Then he takes it off because it feels much better to ride without a helmet. He continues this for several weeks until one day, his tire runs over a stick. The stick pops up and it gets caught in the spines. The bike throws him onto the pavement and his head strikes the concrete. He ends up in a coma. Now, I have a few questions. Did the father advise his children to wear helmets because he wanted to control them? Or did he do it because he wanted them to enjoy life, but to practice safety? What about the older brother, was he wrong to watch over his younger brother? Another question to consider: What if the older brother told his father that the younger one was disobeying him, and the father decided to ground the younger one? Would that have been abuse?