Prevent Child Abuse… Quote from this website…
Take action to support healthy child development and help prevent child abuse and neglect in both big ways and small. Whether you donate to Prevent Child Abuse America, participate in one of our fundraising events, or join us by contacting your local office, your contribution makes a difference.
What can you do right now? Anything you do to support kids and parents can help reduce the isolation and stress that often leads to abuse and neglect.
Be a friend to a parent you know. Ask how their children are doing. Draw on your own experiences to provide reassurance and support. If a parent seems to be struggling, offer to baby-sit or run errands, or just lend a friendly ear. Show you understand.
Be a friend to a child you know. Remember their names. Smile when you talk with them. Ask them about their day at school. Send them a card in the mail. Show you care.
Talk to your neighbors about looking out for one another’s children. Encourage a supportive spirit among parents in your apartment building or on your block. Show that you are involved.
Give your used clothing, furniture and toys for use by another family. This can help relieve the stress of financial burdens that parents sometimes take out on their kids.
Volunteer your time and money for programs in your community that support children and families, such as parent support groups, child care centers, and our state chapters and local Healthy Families America sites.
Advocate for public policies, innovative programs and issues that benefit children and families.
#####
The sad and crying little boy in the photo above reminded me vividly of the scary times during my own childhood during the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Our family was torn apart by my father’s military experience during WWII and the Korean War. As kids we lived in fear constantly. We were scared of Dad because he was angry and often violent, especially when self medicated. We were scared that Mom would be hurt, and worried that she was anxious and nervous all the time. She yelled and screamed at us siblings as a daily norm…suggesting that we were at the root of all the trouble. I think all of us wondered what it would be like to be happy and joyful… We were at times afraid of each other because we became angry living in a highly toxic home circumstance…fighting with each other was a way to relieve stress and vent. We couldn’t wait to get out of the house for school and play. And we hated to come back home.
My description of our troubled family dynamic could be duplicated in thousands of homes in America at that time and today in the 21st Century. The one thing different today that makes a difference is awareness, but we have a long way to go. The stigma of mental health is strong motivation for children and families to be quiet about what happens at home, and suffer in silence. Worse yet is that without mitigation or treatment all the emotional baggage sticks around with those who are abused for the next generation…the cycle of pain continues until the pattern of abuse is broken…
The best we can do to help abused children and stop the violence at home is to be vigilant. As good Samaritans we must not ignore what we see as wrong doing. All too often during my childhood, there was no place to go to be safe, no one to talk to, and worse we had the feeling no one else cared, even other relatives and family members…friends would stay away too. Our teachers and coaches didn’t even know… We were silent for fear of the terrible consequences of telling anyone.
Heightened awareness today allows us to freely help as friends and neighbors, and a community as a whole. Reporting is mandatory in schools and we are trained for intervention. It is not difficult to recognize a child or a family needing help… We can reach out and ask for help for ourselves and others in appropriate ways. The trained mental health professionals and programs available are far more effective today than in the 20th Century. By becoming educated and aware of child abuse and domestic violence, you can save the life of a child or even help an entire family receive the help needed to start the healing process. Take a look at the references and resources provided in this blog post and get engaged in your own community doing your part to stop child abuse…
Steve Sparks, Author, Reconciliation: A Son’s Story and My Journey of Healing in Life After Trauma, Part 1… Click on the highlighted text for my author page, and purchase my book(s) as part of your awareness campaign and support in preventing child abuse and domestic violence…
