What is child abuse?
It shouldn't hurt to be a kid...
Every one of us can help stop child abuse
- Help out a parent under stress with a few hours of childcare or assistance with other chores.
- Lend an ear to a parent or child in crisis.
- Support programs that offer childcare, parent education, family counseling, and child safety.
- Call a Parental Stress program for resources and support.
- If you suspect that a child has been abused
- In cases of an immediate emergency, always call 911 for Law Enforcement intervention.
- Where the situation is not an emergency needing the police, reports should be made to the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline in the following areas:
What are the consequences of child abuse?
- In an abusive environment, children are often expected to behave as if they are much older than they are.
- Children are often "punished" for behavior they are too young to control.
- Abusive parents do not know they have to teach the behavior they want the child to have. Punishing unwanted behavior is not enough.
- Parents and caretakers often abuse children in response to their own anger and unhappiness. It may have no relationship to what the child is doing at the time.
- Abused children
- believe that they have no value.
- believe that they cannot affect the world around them with good behavior.
- feel angry and/or depressed.