My dad beat me up for stupidest reason.

I'm not sure if this is relevant to your situation, but here's my take. I guess this would seem ridiculous if put in the context of American culture, but from other foreign cultures, where physical punishment is considered ok, a lot of parents don't know or don't understand how to discipline their children. They love their children but don't know how to express it properly either. Slow to praise, quick to punish, and desperate to push their children to be perfect.

Reading your post brought back memories of me being scared to tell my parents anything I trivial (lost a key, broke a phone screen) and got severely punished for it, physically and verbally. I just remember feeling terrified every single time I did something wrong. I remember being in the closet hiding, being angry and hurt.

I'm not sure what your dad is like (whether this is a rare thing where he loses his temper occasionally or a common occurrence), but him hitting you is not ok. However, reading your comment below that there were only red marks makes me wonder whether he was beating you to give you a scare or to hurt you. If your dad really wanted to hurt you, you'd be bleeding from a leather belt hitting your skin. I AM IN NOW WAY CONDONING THIS BEHAVIOR but there is a difference between trying to hurt you/trying to discipline you. This might lead you to better understand his motives for acting this way. Regardless, there needs to be a conversation between you and him, but I'm not sure if he will listen to you. Or if he is even aware that this is unacceptable. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what you can do to stop physical abuse short of reporting it to the police. And then you risk losing not only your relationship (or whatever is left of it) with your father but possibly your entire family.

I agree with the suggestions below though: go away as quickly as you can. Wait until the anger has cooled down. Try to calmly explain that you were tackled and that it wasn't entirely your fault. If he keeps yelling at you, saying you should have known better, just apologize and keep quiet. Talking back to a parent who has no desire to listen to you/believe you and is just looking to find ways to be angry at you just leads to a far worse situation.

This is not ok. We all know that. But I'm not sure how old you are, when you can move out, what your situation is, etc. I can only offer coping mechanisms/strategies to keep you from getting beaten or avoid the intensity of it. Move out as soon as you can if you're legal. If not, find adults you can trust that can give you places to stay at when your father is angry.

/r/TwoXChromosomes Thread