"Violence and the child in the modern world."

By Marie-André BERTIN

Teacher, President of O.M.A.E.P. ( World Organisation for Pre-Natal Education )

Lecture given on the 9th February 2002 in Paris, France
at the seminar
 "Violence and the child in the modern world."

(Translated from the French)

THE BASIC PREREQUISITE FOR THE PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE

What is apparent from the previous speeches and all the research carried out to date is that violence is an abnormal expression of the life forces. Life forces exist within the human being from the big-bang moment of conception, the fusion of the two gametes, the cells of the two sexes, man and woman, which unite together. This big-bang moment is similar to that of atomic fusion, liberating the powerful energies which will unfold during one lifetime, with maximum intensity during pregnancy. From only one cell they will produce billions, manufacture intricate organs, elaborate complex functions in accordance with such an intelligent plan that we are lost in admiration. At the same time, sensorial and emotional perceptions will evolve into feelings and thoughts, the very essences of human consciousness.These life forces naturally involve a form of aggression vital to the basic conservation of life itself, to its expression, to the person's achievement and to his own creativity.

Aggression is understood here in its original meaning: its root "agrédiore" signifying to dare, to undertake. This innate fighting spirit is the energy used to survive, to act, to advance, to improve oneself, to create…. or to destroy. For this energy, like all energies, circulates between two poles and can take two opposing directions. Well integrated, well oriented and controlled, it energizes our ability to affirm ourselves calm-ly, to make requests, to express our feelings, to sustain a point of view - even a minority one - to protest against injustice, to defend our rights, to say 'No' when necessary. This constitutes an innate physical and psychological vital energy when it is nourished, channelled and oriented in a constructive way. But if this energy is denied, blocked or comes up against dramatic and traumatic events, or unfavourable family, educational and social conditions, it can become destructive.

Destructive energy accumulates inside an individual when he is the victim of repeated violence. Stored in the form of bodily and psychic tensions, it engenders the desire for revenge, and the situation of victim becomes that of the aggressor (it is the law - an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth - which is more a reflex action rather than reflection.) When the tension reaches a certain threshold, violence flares up, the patho-logical need to attack another.

Violence is not inherited. If a human being becomes violent, it means he has collected defects, shocks and wounds without his suffering ever being recognized, which means he was not able to develop himself in love and confidence, to express himself or to be creative. Except in exceptional cases, it is possible to help the person who has become violent to re-discover his deep humanity, to restore his self-confidence and trust in life. But this work is long, risky and expensive and, today, the problem has taken on consider-able proportions. We know with regard to physical health that "prevention is better than cure". The same applies to psychic health.

Depth psychology has shown that a young child's education structures it for the rest of its life, except if, later on, an awakening of conscience and work on himself enables him to re-work his basic foundations. Has it not been said that "everything happens before the age of 6…?" Undoubtedly, this is too radical. (Let me believe that I may educate myself a little more…) this slogan had the merit of drawing attention to the importance of life in early childhood.
Moreover, scientific and psychological research during the past two decades demonstrates that what was accepted for early childhood is still truer for the life before birth.

This work shows that the human being builds its foundations of health, emotion, fundamental relationship capacities (his ability to love) his cognitive faculties (his intelligence), indeed his creativity, during the pre-natal period. In fact, when these studies are collated, the reality of a basic education before birth emerges. But beware! We must make the distinction between education and instruction. Instruction is the transmission of knowledge and know-how. It employs the methods of apprenticeship. Now, there is nothing to teach the foetus: to try to do it would be arbitrary and dangerous. It would be intrusive to the formative process and would risk upsetting it. This is already being violent to the child. This is what has happened with the tapes that some American psychologists have marketed, having asked pregnant women to wear them on their bellies. Sounds and noises have been recorded on these tapes in order to stimulate the foetus with the aim of producing an accomplished child.

Moreover, hundreds of thousands of children who have received these "stimuli" both in China and the USA have turned out to be hyperactive from birth, with digestive and nervous problems and, in particular, trouble with sleeping. Do we have the right to play sorcerers' apprentices with the sources of life? With definite consequences to the structure of the child which is being formed?

Education has quite another goal: it concerns the development of the potential of the human being and his adaptation to the world. There are three basic processes: impregnation, imitation/identification and experi-mentation. In the pre-natal period, impregnation is at its maximum: it is cellular, as we will see shortly. The child in the womb is impregnated with everything the mother lives. If future parents are informed that their child is being educated at the same time as it is being formed, it is then possible for them to avoid any violence and to give it the best elements and the best conditions so that it develops all the potential of its genetic capital in the best way, within the natural process and according to its own dynamic. So, they are free - for there is no freedom without information - to create their own link with the baby, according to their own natures and their own culture.So is it possible then from the pre-natal period to prevent the child becoming violent? The question is asked this way for the human being , who is subject-ed to violence will , whatever his age, react in three different ways (with a multitude of nuanc-es and possible combinations).

1) he himself becomes violent

2) he feels worthless, goes silent, or hides away. Either he becomes bitter and becomes a domestic tyrant, or he gives up, and becomes a nonentity, which is catastrophic for both himself and his family.

3) finally, there are human beings who, even violated by life, never become violent. They are the resilient as Boris Cyrulnick calls them.

These beings utilise their difficulties, their misfortunes, their injustices and annoyances ;
they support them in order to transform their suffering into a better understanding of the situation and human nature. They share this understanding with others and cooperate with them to improve things. The resilient are pearl oysters who know how to transform a grain of sand which irritates them into a sparkling and precious pearl.

Where does this ability come from? From the fact that they have been able - says Boris Cyrulnick - to shape themselves in early childhood with love, respect and confidence. The qualities of love, respect and confidence have impregnated them to such a degree that they have become part of their structure and will manifest themselves in their lives, whatever the external conditions may be.

So, the human being establishes its basic foundations during pregnancy.

He perceives everything, he feels everything through his senses and he files all this information in his subconscious memory, in his cellular memory, for each cell is informed at the same time as it is being formed. The baby in the womb cannot select what is beneficial, advantageous for it and what is harmful for it. The future mother has to make this choice, together with the father and with the help of their fami-lies and friends and the professionals who accompany them, as well as with the support of the whole of society.

On the physical level, the baby builds its body with the materials provided by the mother's blood. So she should banish harmful substances: alcohol, tobacco and other drugs…and eat only fresh foods which are full of vitality: fruits, vegetables, cereals, not forgetting cold water fish whose fatty acids are so precious for the formation of the human baby's brain. It is her role also to oxygenate her blood well with good respiration which is as important as nutrition.

On the level of the five senses, those antennae which link us to the world and nourish our intellectual activities, choices must be made also. The sensorial capacities of the foetus are energized, the sense organs are strengthened, their functions refined by corresponding stimuli - notably touch and hearing - which come from the mother and, through her, from the father and the environment. The mother should try and listen to the baby: it knows very well how to let her know what suits it and what disturbs it.

Here too, using nothing artificial, the mother has the possibility to give her child the very best by enrich-ing her own life, by nourishing herself with the beauty of sounds, forms, colours, works of art and by spending time in nature where everything sings, where everything is vibrant.

On the emotional level, the child shares the mother's emotions. We have known for several decades now that they are communicated to the baby through hormones of stress or relaxation, through feelings of fear or confidence, joy and happiness. These hormones create psychological states in the child, corresponding to the mother's emotions. If these states are repeated often, they create predispositions of character. So the future mother should avoid conversations, lectures, music and entertainment which are violent or depress-sing. If she experiences fear, doubts or uncertainty, she should know that this is normal. She does not need to feel guilty, but learn how to accept them and then let them go. Techniques like yoga, sophrology ( a specific pregnancy and birth preparation technique known in France and Belgium ) and pre-natal singing …can be helpful as well as the mother seeking to find what makes her feel full of joy of life and enthusi-asm at being, together with nature, the co-creator of her child.

But life today often creates difficulties for the couple and the mother. Sometimes there are situations of anger and upset. Sometimes sickness or grief will affect the mother. Will the child feel it? Yes, it cannot be avoided. But the mother must know that she possesses what Thomas Verny, a Canadian psychiatrist, calls 'a protective shield' for her child, that of her love. She needs to explain to the baby what is happen-ing, as recommended by Françoise Dolto. She needs to reassure it. This courageous effort will be good for her, and the child will register that there are some hard knocks in life, but that they can be overcome. The basis of a strong character will then be embedded within him. From the time of pregnancy, it will be equipped with a resilient foundation , which we spoke about earlier and which enables it to rebuild itself after a traumatic shock.

The role of the father is also very important. He can communicate with the child by voice and touch, especially giving it joy and confidence through a happy and secure mother. A Chinese proverb says that the mother bears the child, but the father bears the mother and the child. A saying in the West says that the father does not bear the child in his body, although he can bear it in his heart and mind. The child will then feel loved, expected and recognised. Do the thoughts of the mother also influence the child? Yes, confirms Marie-Claire BUSNEL and her team at the University of Paris V. Having studied foetal hearing in the laboratory for many years, these researchers noted that "the foetus reacts as much to the mother's thoughts as to her words." Not if it is just futile inner chatter, but if her thought has a certain real density, meaning and presence.

Through what agents are the thoughts and mental images of the mother transmitted?
Through water, says the Japanese researcher Masau EMOTO who has studied the plasticity of this vital life element. From the work carried out at Berkeley by the biochemist Lee LORENZEN on the magnetic resistance of water, Masaru EMOTO has submitted samples of water to different influences: harmonious and discordant music, feelings of love and hate, thoughts of death and life, prayer…. This water has been frozen, then their crystals - between -5 and O - have been photographed under an electronic microscope. The resulting negatives are amazing. The negatives reflect the splendour or the horror with which these waters have been impregnated.

Moreover, the human body is composed of more than 70% water. Would this phenomenon explain the efficiency of the work on oneself? The influence of our thoughts on our cells, on our own matter? With regard to the fertilised human egg, it is made up of 90% water. Is it this biological egg which will capture and record the initial information? The quality of the parents' love at the moment of conception? And is this process of impregnation followed throughout the pregnancy, the foetus being nourished with the mother's blood and swimming in the amniotic fluid? Thus it can be said that the mother's inner life has an impact not only on the psyche, but also on the organism of the being which is being formed inside her. She is thus invited to transmit to the child the best of herself and to utilise the power of her creative imagination by gifting to her child the most beautiful images and by sensitising it to the most beautiful human qualities. And so genetics leads us to the end of the journey, the nucleus of the cell.

At the 4th World Congress on Pre-Natal Education which was held in April 2001 in Caracas, the Ameri-can cellular biologist Bruce LIPTON reported on recent work which contradicts the genetic determinism which is commonly accepted. These studies demonstrate (I quote) that "the activation of gene program-mes is controlled by the atmosphere of the environment. More precisely, by the organism's perception of this environment…. *1 and *2. The maternal emotions such as fear or anger or, on the contrary, love or hope bio chemically influence the selection and re-writing of the genetic code of the child in the womb with very deep evolutionary consequences upon future generations.

Future parents are the true 'genetic engineers'. It is urgent that they are informed.  Inform future parents, yes, but take care that they do not feel overwhelmed, they do not feel guilty, that they do not nourish the illusion of becoming perfect parents with a perfect child. This will cause disillus-ion, problems and conflict. Tell future parents only what they can accept and put into practice, which respects them and allows them to be spontaneous. That is why it is preferable to inform all young people well before they are expecting a child.

I have met many young people in schools, colleges and primary schools and I can testify to their joy in hearing a talk about life, of the life they have lived, that they bear within themselves and which often directs them without them being conscious of it. I can tell you also that they feel responsible for them-selves, their future partner, and of the children they will have one day. They acquire another idea of life, and this can prevent them from foolishly wasting their precious energies. It can prevent some from suc-cumbing to violent behaviour.

Others who must be informed are those who accompany the pregnant women and her partner. Teachers in schools and collages who can further share this knowledge; the politicians and decision makers in society, and finally the whole population. An increased collective awareness is necessary to get things moving.

In conclusion, we can say that natural pre-natal education, lived positively by the parents participates in the genesis of the physical and spiritual health of the being in formation.

This is the most fundamental way to prevent violence as well as other dysfunctions.

And we may hope that beings who are formed in this way, born and raised in love and respect, may be capable of building a fairer, more humane, more fraternal world where each one can take his place and blossom in service to the whole.

*
*1 Jacques GLOWINSKI, neuropharmacologist at the College of France:
"Information can suscitate the expression of certain genes which produce proteins intervening in the construction of the system."
Certain phenomena are irreversible. There is always a link between the outer and the inner.

*2 David BOHM, biophysicist at the Royal Academy in England said already thirty years ago : " The transformation of consciousness can transform the brain for we cannot separate matter from consciousness."

For more information on O.M.A.E.P. see www.omaep.com or write to : OMAEP, 2A rue Midol, 25000 Besancon - France . E-mail : contact@omaep.com
This leaflet was translated and produced by The Organisation for Prenatal Education.
For more information see : www.prenataleducation.org.uk or write to : OPE, Dewhurst Corner, Dewhurst Lane, Wadhurst, East Sussex, TN5 6QB, UK
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books and brochures can be ordered from : O.M.A.E.P. 2A rue Midol-25000-Besançon, France Se also : www.omaep.com

Brochures in French:

- La vie prenatale influence-t-elle notre vie ?

- L'influence du vecu emotionelle de la femme enceinte sur le temperament at la sante du nourrisson. Dr. S Richard.

- Help young people to become parents.

- From the imaginary child to the real child.

- The transmission of life: a creative work.

Books

- Prenatal Education: hope for the future.
books-proceedings of lst World Congress on Prenatal Education - Granada

- Prenatal Education, from Ancient Greece to the 21st Century.
books-proceedings of 2nd World Congress on Prenatal Education, Athens.