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| The Youth Of The Nation!! |
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| Act Now!!! |
THE PREVENTION
Getting Involved in Child Abuse Prevention
If you suspect that a child you know is being abused - perhaps a niece or a nephew, a child in the neighborhood or a classmate of your youngster - you have a responsibility to become involved. Teachers are often the first to see the changes in a child's physical appearance, emotional condition, and behavior, changes that suggest she is being hurt or is in trouble. In many states, teachers (as well as physicians, dentists and other professionals) are legally obligated to report suspected cases of abuse - and for good reason: Every year, children die from abuse, often even after someone became aware that they were being victimized.
Once a case has been investigated by law enforcement and social agencies, local social service bureaus may institute various forms of services and treatment to help the family. However, the safety and protection of the child are the first priority, and thus children are sometimes removed from their family and placed in a foster home, at least temporarily; at the same time, efforts are made to work with the parents to address underlying problems and teach them coping skills to ensure that episodes of abuse are not repeated.
If you have abused your own child or feel that such behavior may occur, talk with a trusted individual such as a physician or a clergyman. He or she may refer you to a professional or an agency where you can obtain help, including assistance in dealing with your own fears and guilt. Both parents and children may benefit from some guidance and counseling, individually and together, perhaps at shelters for domestic violence that can help break the cycle. You will be guided toward dealing with your emotions without resorting to violence. You will have the opportunity to discuss your own parenting experiences and your current life stresses. You will be shown ways to cope effectively with stresses so that you do not fall into inflicting injuries upon your youngster. You have a responsibility to your child and to yourself to find ways to relate at home that are nonviolent, day after day.
If you feel that you are in the midst of a crisis, call your local chapter of Parents Anonymous or a crisis hotline, which can provide you with some prompt support.
Thereafter, the more formal treatment process should begin. Finally, you might also get involved to help reduce the incidence of child abuse in your community at large. You can become an advocate for a caring and respectful environment for all children. True, some segments of society still condone corporal punishment and even outwardly abusive behavior toward children - but this is wrong. You can work with local schools to eliminate physical punishment and to promote and teach constructive ways to deal with anger and conflict.
| Start The Volunteery Now!!! |
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| Make a community!!!!..Now!! |
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DID YOU KNOW??
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month
A primary care-based method of prevention should be realistic and efficient to implement. One way to provide CSA prevention in a short period of time is by implementing the intervention in more than one visit. During the first visit, you can introduce the topic of CSA to the family and provide information about prevalence data, risks and possible effects of abuse. Written information may include a parent, child and family assessment tool, along with comprehensive information and resources that include information for abuse recovery and age-specific sexuality education.CSA prevention tends to be most effective during the beginning stages of family development.Therefore, women's health NPs, CNMs and obstetricians might be the most appropriate care providers to begin intervention during prenatal visits and childbirth classes.
Patients are more likely to comply with suggested activities and assessment if they are approached in a caring and respectful manner. Inform patients that no unique traits separate abusers from nonabusers. Although 15% to 20% of perpetrators are parents, most offenders are more distant relatives or other acquaintances.
Components of the prevention intervention may include dismissal of stereotypes and societal elements that encourage CSA, and healthy parenting skills that improve children's self-esteem. Parents should also have an understanding of the four preconditions that must be met for CSA to occur:
a person must be motivated to abuse a child;
the person must overcome internal inhibitions;
the person must overcome external impediments; and
the person must surmount resistance by the child.
Clinic-based assessment and intervention address external impediments to abuse and the child's resistance to abuse. External impediments include parents and other adults who protect children from abuse. Children's resistance may include the child, friends and siblings. Physical, intellectual and emotional factors influence external impediments and the child's resistance.
Through CSA prevention intervention, potential offenders may gain insight, thereby achieving freedom of choice in their actions. Adults who experienced CSA may be free to act against internalized feelings and learned behaviors. They may comprehend the inappropriateness of their childhood sexual experiences, acquire empathy for prospective victims (and themselves), and realize that future abuse is not likely to go unnoticed, nor will it be tolerated.
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| POOR!! |
SOMETIMES, WE HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED THEM DOWN!!
Neglect
CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
Charles A. Smith
Extension Specialist
Human Development
Kansas State University CES
While the vast majority of child care is provided by warm, capable individuals intent on providing a safe, secure, and healthy place for children there are occasional incidents of child abuse and neglect in child care facilities. Parents and caregivers may also discover that a child has been abused by a spouse, friend, stranger, or another caregiver and is in need of special services. What can you do as a parent to protect your child?
LISTEN TO YOUR CHILD
When a young child spontaneously makes comments or asks questions relating to possible abuse, it is important to listen to what the child is saying. Often such statements are made by the child in a comfortable setting and usually to parents or other close adults or children. If the adult shows shock, horror, or disbelief, the child may withhold the information and keep it secret for a long time. On the other hand, parents and professionals sometimes tend to simply dismiss such reports made by a child who tries with a limited vocabulary to tell about an experience he or she does not fully understand. Generally, it should be assumed that children, especially preschoolers, do not make up stories in this area.
KNOW THE TYPES OF CHILD ABUSE
Physical abuse - Any non-accidental injury which is inconsistent with the explanation given for it, suffered by a child as the result of an act or omission by the person responsible for the care of the child. Physical abuse often occurs in the name of discipline or punishment, and ranges from a slap resulting in reddening of surface tissue lasting more than 24 hours to use of objects such as straps, belts, kitchen utensils, electrical cords, sticks etc.
Denial of critical care (neglect) - The failure on the part of a person responsible for the care of a child to provide for the adequate food, shelter, clothing, emotional support, medical care, or supervision necessary for the child's health and welfare that places the child in a life- or health-threatening situation.
Sexual abuse - The commission of a sexual offense with or to a child through the acts or omissions of the person responsible for the care of the child. Child sexual abuse can involve one or more different kinds of physical or non-physical sexual contact. Non-physical forms include exhibitionism, pornography, and child prostitution. Physical forms can include fondling, molestation, genital or oral stimulation, sexual intercourse, sodomy, and rape.
The child victim can be a girl or boy; in most cases knows and trusts the abuser; can be an infant, toddler, preschool, or school age child; and is usually afraid to tell about the experience for fear of being blamed or punished.
Emotional abuse - Any interaction with or to a child over a period of time including but not limited to making excessive demands; belittling; rejecting a child; constantly treating children in the same family or group of children unequally; or lack of concern for a child's well-being to the extent that such maltreatment affects the child's physical, social and emotional development.
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