Show Me Health - Child Abuse

It's hard to imagine someone intentionally hurting a child, yet nearly a million children are abused every year just in the United States alone. And these are only the reported incidents of child abuse — many more cases are unreported and undetected, often because children are afraid to tell somebody who can help.

Most of the time, kids know their abusers and the abuse occurs in the home. This makes it difficult for kids to speak up. They may feel trapped by the affection they feel for their abusers or fearful of the power the abusers have over them — so they stay silent. That's why it's especially important to be able to recognize the signs of child abuse.

What Is Child Abuse?

Child abuse happens when a parent or other adult causes serious physical or emotional harm to a child.

In the United States, the laws defining what constitutes child abuse vary from state to state, but generally speaking, child abuse can take these forms:

• physical abuse
• sexual abuse
• neglect and abandonment
• emotional or psychological abuse

The most serious cases of child abuse can end in death. Those who survive may suffer emotional scars that can linger long after the physical bruises have healed. Kids who are abused are more likely to have problems building and maintaining relationships throughout their lives. They're also more likely to have low self-esteem, depression, thoughts of suicide, and other mental health issues.

Physical Abuse

When people think of child abuse, their first thought probably is of physical abuse — such as striking, kicking, or shaking a child.

Abusive head trauma, or shaken baby syndrome, is a specific form of physical abuse. It's the leading cause of death in child abuse cases in the U.S. Most incidents last just a few seconds, but that's enough time to cause brain damage or even kill a baby.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse happens when a child is raped or forced to commit a sexual act. But it's also any sort of sexual contact with a child or any behavior that is meant to sexually arouse the abuser.

Neglect

Neglect is any action — or inaction — on the part of a caregiver that causes a child physical or emotional harm. For example, withholding food, warmth in cold weather, or proper housing is considered neglectful. Basically, anything that interferes with a child's growth and development constitutes neglect.

Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse or psychological abuse is a pattern of behavior that has negative effects on a child's emotional development and sense of self-worth. Ignoring a child or withholding love, support, or guidance is considered emotional abuse. So is threatening, terrorizing, belittling, or constantly criticizing a child.

Signs of Abuse

It's sometimes difficult to tell the difference between the ordinary scrapes and scratches of childhood and a physical sign of child abuse. Multiple bruises or those that keep coming back, black eyes, and broken bones are certainly red flags, but other signs — like a child's emotional health — are also telling.

If You Suspect Abuse

Abuse is not a private family matter, although it most often occurs within families and often is kept as a family secret. Once you suspect child abuse, you need to act to protect the child from further possible harm. It doesn't matter if you're wrong: it's better to be wrong than sorry.

While not all suspicions and accusations of child abuse turn out to be true, all deserve serious attention and immediate action. Child abuse can rob kids of the joy of growing up and affect them negatively for years to come.

But abuse doesn't have to ruin a child's life, as long as it's stopped and dealt with. The earlier abuse can be identified and stopped, the less destructive it will be. Healing from the abuse and dealing with its aftermath can also start that much earlier.

So take any accusations of abuse seriously until you know for sure whether or not they're true. All children deserve to be heard, protected, and helped, no matter what.

If you made it to the end of this article-thank you.  It’s so easy to gloss over information about child abuse.  It’s often hard to hear, and hard to think about when you feel powerless to help.  But rest assured, there are children in your child’s school, in your neighborhood, in your community and possibly even in your family being permanently altered by the abusive behaviors of an adult.

I’d like to invite you to, “Stewards of Children” a special training for anyone who works with children, at the Livingston County Library on Friday, April 22^nd  at 10 a.m.  to 12 p.m.  Please take a few minutes of your day to remember the children dealing with this issue and learn what you can do to help.

Source: Kids Health