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I've witnessed my brother hit his young son (now 5y.o.) a handful of times. He just gets angry and snaps when he's not listened to, then he yells and hits. The circumstances can be very minor, like when he's ordering the child to stand still for some reason, and the hitting can be rather severe, I have seen him open-handed hit the kid in the face, although not hard enough to leave a mark. Other family members see it (including the moms of each) and look the other way. I've caught him red-handed and urged he find better solutions, mentioned "Peaceful Parenting" and this show and he's usually like "thanks for the tip! you're probably right. (talk to me when you have kids)". I've talked for hours with our parents to see if they will support this cause, and they just justify it, dismiss it. They have both listened to Stef. One of them said "well, stef has his way of raising a kid, and your brother has his way... who can say which one is better?" I'm like "RESEARCH, SCIENCE!! They have said conclusively!" and when I present the info it's ignored. These people are too busy consuming hours of junk tv and video games everyday to spend 30 minutes reading about peacefully raising a child. The least you could say about all the other adults is that they simply don't see it as truly harmful. So what do I do now? I have a good relationship with my (older) bro, he's open to good conversation about anything, although I fear this will feel like an attack, and he'll shrug it off like he did before. I've spent a few hours combing the forums for advice and have collected a few links (two videos Stef made and recommended, and a link titled "10 reasons not to hit your child"). I don't want to flood him with too much info. My plan is clarify with my parents for the last time that I do not have their support and let them know how that feels, and then simply email my bro and his wife saying something like "Look, I've seen you hit your kid more than once. I've been studying this peaceful parenting stuff and the more I think about it, the more upsetting it is to me. Here's some links, please spend a little time thinking about it, and please promise to put an end to it" Thoughts? Right approach? He lives nearby, would a visit be more appropriate? I'm not confident in my ability to "argue" this issue, especially with big bro, but I can't put it off any longer. And if the conversation is fruitless? Do I then threaten to call the cops?