My Child Abuse Report!

I wrote this and thought I would post it!

Child abuse is defined as ‘the physical, sexual, mental, or emotional mistreatment of children by parent’s, guardian’s, or others responsible for a child’s welfare.” But it is much more than that. Child abuse can change lives faster than almost anything else can. After the abuse takes place, the child may be taken away from their parents or guardians and placed in a foster care situation or the child in question may in fact be killed while being abused. And during the abuse, the child is suffering mental as well as physical damage. Children who have been mistreated or abuse are at a greater risk of developing psychiatric problems or other things such as trauma-attachment problems, anxiety, depression, self-harm or mutilation, and acting-out symptoms. Research at the National Adoption Center found out that 52% of adoptable children or children in the foster care system in the United States had attachment disorders while 80% of mistreated and abused infants and children who are adoptable had attachment disorders.
The statistics of child abuse are alarming and growing every year. Some of the statistics include; the majority of children in residential house care have been victims of significant sexual or physical abuse, about 80% of child abuse is given by the parent or caregiver of a child, an average of about 20 children a year die in Colorado due to child abuse, in 2005 about 30,000 children were reported as abused or neglected in Colorado, of those 30,000 children, nearly 9,000 cases were actually abuse, children under the age of four account for 75% of child abuse deaths, neglect occurs more often than child abuse but is no less damaging, 30% of all child fatalities are due to neglect, and 11,927 children spent some portion of the year 2005 in substitute of foster care.
Child abuse is reported on an average of every ten seconds and two or three children die from child abuse related causes a day. While most of the abuse happens in the child’s home or in the home of a relative, a great deal of child abuse cases happens in certain organizations pertaining to children such as church groups and activities, adoptive or foster homes, schools, other public places, and child care businesses. A recent study at UNICEF (The United Nations Children’s Fund) found that child abuse is far more common in single parent families and households than households with both parents present.
There are many reasons why a person would abuse a child, none of which are acceptable. There are four main reasons primary categories pertaining to why people harm their children: Intergenerational transmission of violence, social stress, social isolation and lack of community involvement, and family structure. The abuser might have been abused themselves as a child. Many abusers have personality disorders or other illnesses along those lines which also factor in. Psychosocial disorders can also contribute to the reasoning behind abusing a child. Other reasons include the caregivers putting the family into stressful situations such as divorce, schooling, poverty, sickness, disability, and lack of parental skills are all situations that have been known to trigger child abuse. Child abuse is more common in families with younger parents than with older parents.
If people suspect people of abusing a child, they often think that it’s nothing or it’s none of their business or something along those lines. That is wrong! If you suspect it for one minute, try to see if it seems true. Even if you aren’t positive that it’s happening, it’s always better to be safe than sorry! If it proves to be true, tell somebody as quickly as possible. If we didn’t have people who were aware of child abuse or didn’t tell the proper authorities about it, some children may never be saved from the abuse. There are also sometimes physical and behavioral signs of child abuse.
There are many signs of physical abuse. They include; rope burns, infected burns indicating delay in getting it treated, burns in the shape of common household objects, unexplained burns, cigarette burns, burns found on palms, arms, the abdomen, the soles of the feet, the buttocks, and legs, unexplained bruises on the face, neck, arms, legs, thigh or lower back that are strangely patterned or oddly shaped which suggests the use of instrument such as a belt buckle or hanger, unexplained absences from school or work, unusual shyness or the hesitation of being touched, antisocial behavior, social abuse, and much more.
Signs suggesting sexual abuse are; unexplained or unknown pregnancy, torn, stained or bloody underclothes, excessive bleeding from private areas, sexually transmitted diseases, frequent unexplained sore throats, difficulty in walking or sitting, disturbed sleeping patterns, recurring nightmares, promiscuity or seductive behaviors, unusual and age-inappropriate fascination with things of a sexual nature, wearing extra layers of clothes, and the unwillingness to undress.
Emotional abuse is becoming more common in today’s society and it also has signs so you can tell when it might be occurring. Some of the signs include; eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia, unusual speech disorders like stuttering or stammering, weight and height standards that are greatly below normal, flat or bald spots on the heads of infants, developmental delays in the acquisition of motor and speaking skills, nervous disorders, anxiety, habit disorders like biting nails and head-banging, unusually cruel behavior towards other children or towards animals, behavioral extremes, and age-inappropriate behavior such as bed wetting.
Many professionals agree that there are three main levels of prevention services. The first level is called primary prevention which consists of activities that are targeted at a community level. These activities are meant to teach families about abuse and the reasons why abuse is not ok before the abuse can begin. These include family support groups, parent education classes, and public prevention activities and rallies.
The next level is called secondary prevention. This section of prevention is targeted toward families that have one or more risk factors like drug abuse, teen parents, single parent families, parents of children with special needs, and low income families. This consists of different things depending on your situation. If you are the parent of a special needs child, they may send over a nurse or other caregiver to help you acclimate to your child’s needs. Or they may send over a person from a home visiting program to help teen mothers with a history of drugs, alcohol, or bad behavior.
The last level is called tertiary prevention. This consists of activities that are target to those families that have proven cases of child abuse or neglect in some way. Even if the courts haven’t been involved in the case yet, these families have already demonstrated the need for an intervention which they need as soon as possible. This is completely different from family support help and tertiary prevention goes right along with treatment be it through counseling or taking the kids away from their families and placing them in protective services such as foster care or adoption.
The Child Welfare League of America says that the most effective way for you to prevent abuse in your family and the families around you is to educate you and yours about the dangers of abuse and how to prevent abuse. They also recommend volunteering your time to needy families that need help. Be willing to help them as much as possible so they don’t get too overwhelmed. And if you need to discipline your child, wait until a time when you are calm so that you don’t overreact and hurt your child, verbally or physically. When parents know how to discipline their children correctly, they are less likely to abuse them!
Luckily there are a lot of organizations out there whose soul purpose is to rescue children who are being abused or are at the risk of being abused. They also work hard to educate people about the terrors of abuse and how they can stop it. Child Help USA was founded in 1959 and is one of the largest and oldest national nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping the prevention of child abuse. In 2005, Child Help USA’s founders were nominated for the coveted Nobel Peace Prize.
Another organization is ISPCAN or the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. It is the only multidisciplinary international organization that brings people from the whole world together to prevent the exploitation and abuse of children all across the planet. This foundation was founded in 1977.
One of the most prominent organizations in the world was the Children of the Underground foundation. It was founded by Faye Yager in the early 1980’s and was dedicated to helping mother’s or father’s whose spouses had abused their children. This organization played a larger role in helping families who were wrongly convicted by the court system. In many cases, the court system failed to convict or convicted criminals inadequately for molestation and other charges. In some cases, these criminals were still granted custody of their child. This organization got enormous amounts of attention from the media for their courageous attempts to stop these wrong convictions. Even though this organization no longer exists, it was on of the first child abuse prevention organizations and put more media attention on child abuse.
If you know anyone who is being abused or suspect some one of being abused, there are many services you can contact. Child abuse is not a joke and should not be taken lightly. First, call the proper authorities. Some of these authorities are the Child Protective Services, the Department of Children and Family Services or even your local police. The important thing to do is report it as soon as you find out to help prevent further abuse. With everyone’s help, we can help so many children be safe!