Actually, if you went to a regular Nigerian boarding house and constantly complained to your parents about what you faced & they didn’t do anything about it...
Even if they didn’t beat you directly, they were definitely complicit in child abuse.

Those boarding houses were terrible. Kids were entering them as early as 9 and had to face all sorts.
Lie down inside wet dirty drains for punishment.
Cut grass until you have splinters and blisters on your fingers.
Get beaten blue & black.
Menh, we all have some trauma.

When we had to resume, you will see kids wailing as soon as they reached school gate. It wasn’t because they would miss home, it was because of the fear of what is to come.
Many parents saw this & still put their kids through it for years! Nah menh. Now I’m even vexed.

My best first in junior high was a babe named Tola Lawson. Gosh I loved her so. She made life easier for me & brought me a lot of joy. One day when we closed for the term, her parents came to pick her & her siblings up. After speaking to them for a few minutes she came back to me

“Modupe, I need to tell you something. I won’t be coming back next term. My parents just decided.”
I remember my under nourished body standing staring blankly at her in my oversized purple checkered house wear unable to say any words.
She left. I cried so much.

That was almost 15 years ago and the last time I saw Tola. How could her parents just take my friend away just like that?
As I grew older, I understood. They probably came on that day & were heartbroken to see their kids in that state & just decided enough is enough.

My own parents kept me and my brother in that same boarding house for the entire 6 years. I didn’t complain much because I had heard my brother complain for years (he got in 3 years before me) and nothing was done. So I took it as the cross 9 year old me had to bear. A mess.

I survived boarding house but the suffering was an unnecessary thing. Luckily for me, my seniors thought I was a cute kid so I had lots of school mothers & protectors. I mean, I had my own fair share of trauma but I was luckier than most.
Just typing this thread makes me shudder.