Can You Stop Child Abuse?
What is Child Abuse?
Children are like those sensitive premature buds who require utmost care
and protection by their caretakers. Children’s emotions and responsiveness to
circumstances define their future developmental pathways. However, neglect and
abuse by elders and family members rupture the roots of these sensitive buds in
entirety. The unimaginable horrors of child abuse potentially challenge the
long-term survival of humankind. The increasing cases of child harm not only
threaten the environment of peace and tranquillity but also defeats the purpose
of human existence on earth (Medline Plus, 2020). Child abuse is an activity or ignorance that leads to physical,
emotional, and/or spiritual injuries to developing learners. The unaccomplished
demands of growing children substantially increase their risk of neglect and
abuse in real-life situations. The underprivileged and vulnerable children of the
stratified societies experience depression, anxiety, and emotional pain due to
their consistent exploitation not only by the mainstream societies but also by
their family members. The neglected children experience a high risk of adopting
criminality or antisocial behaviors that drastically deteriorate their personal
development paradigm. The mental illnesses of the neglected children become the
prime cause of their suicidality, homicidal behavior, or withdrawal. A lot of
abused and neglected children adopt alcoholism/drug use and prefer to stay in
social isolation. They often abuse/harass others and overburden human societies
with their inhuman conduct.
The Hidden Pain of Abused Children
Close relatives or parents of many children feel no shame in physically
and emotionally abusing them merely for the sake of gaining pleasure. The
relatives or family members of some children also abuse them based on jealousy
or in response to their failures. The desire to earn assets and property of
close relatives often forces people to abuse their kids without worrying about
the outcomes. Thousands of child deaths across the globe occur as a result of
abuse episodes. The emotional trauma of neglected children challenges their
sustenance and dignified survival for a long time. Despite the existence of
legal structures and courts, humanity has failed to stop the episodes of child
abuse since the modification of caretakers’ misconduct appears extremely
challenging in real-time scenarios. The treatment and recognition of the early
signs of abuse are therefore highly needed to minimize the prevalence of trauma
and sufferings of the innocent children. The instant evaluation of a child’s
abuse-related complaints is highly needed to identify the causes of neglect and
emotional/physical trauma.
What Signs or Symptoms You May Notice in the Abused Children?
The occurrence of any of the below-mentioned signs or symptoms in any
child must increase your worry and prompt you to approach the concerned
authority for necessary action (American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry, 2014).
- Sleeping difficulties
- Alcohol and drug
addiction
- Complaints against peers,
friends, elders, or family members (in relation to physical and emotional
abuse
- Nightmares
- Flashbacks
- Stressful responses
- Depression
- Sadness
- Mood swings
- Repeated failure or reduced
grades in school
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Sensitivity, fear, and
apprehension against various activities and relationships
- Clingy behavior
- Withdrawal
- Passive activities
- Misconduct
- Aggression
- Antisocial behavior
- Bad company
- Suicidal and/or homicidal
thoughts
- Self-abuse
- Destructive behavior
- Rage/Anger
- Incapacity to love and trust
people
- Deteriorated
self-image
The abused children in many scenarios do not exhibit any symptom or
commit bad conduct lately during adolescence. They later become aggressive
parents in their adulthood and prefer to repeat the same misconduct they had
experienced during their childhood phase. Such adults fail to establish
trustful personal relationships with their children, relatives, and friends.
The cycle continues and the legacy of abused children continues transferring
between generations. The abused children often fail to trust people and refrain
from practicing intimacy and closeness after stepping into their adulthood.
They experience a lot of challenges at school that restrict their personal and
academic developments while increasing their stigma and social deprivation to
many folds. The abused children also experience a high risk of physical illness
and substance abuse as compared to other healthy kids.
What Should You Do to Minimize the Risk of Child Abuse?
You must consider the following ways to reduce the risk and prevalence
of child abuse. Speedy recovery of the physically and/or emotionally abused
children is highly needed to reduce the risk of their recurrent (future)
exploitations (SAMHSA, 2020) (Childwelfare.Gov, 2015) (CWIG, 2018).
- You must actively
investigate and track the cues linking with child abuse to reduce the risk
of long-term adversities.
- You must not ignore the
concerns and responses of any child who approaches you with the hope of
getting a safe shelter against his/her physical, emotional, and spiritual
abuse.
- Befriending with children is
highly essential to find their day-to-day challenges at school and at
home.
- The parents must keep track
of the daily activities of their children at school and must not ignore
even a small concern hinting at the risk of abuse or misconduct.
- The periodic screening of
children by qualified health care experts is highly needed to track the
hidden clues of physical and/or emotional abuse.
- The parents must regularly
counsel their children while configuring an environment of trust and
confidence conducive to the sharing of concerns, challenges, and
apprehension.
- The parents must coordinate
with schoolteachers and psychotherapists to learn various forms of
communication for dealing with their children during different phases of
their development.
- The parents must teach
relaxation methods and deep breathing exercises to their kids (in
coordination with fitness trainers) to overcome their fears and worries.
The meaningful use of these interventions is highly needed to enhance
children’s confidence under unfavorable circumstances.
- The sharing and caring
attitudes are indispensable to motivate children for sharing their
concerns and experiences in a hassle-free manner.
- The traumatic stress in
children is the progenitor of their learning and memory issues. The
parents and teachers must carefully recognize these memory issues in
children, particularly following their spontaneous occurrence since these
could be the signs of children’s abuse or misconduct.
- The parents must not ignore
the health issues of their children at any point in time. For example, the
provision of treating long-term illnesses like heart disease and diabetes
is highly necessary to safeguard the immunity of the affected children.
Immunocompromised children are more vulnerable to abuse and misconduct as
compared to other healthy children.
- The parents must acquire
support from the juvenile justice systems and child welfare programs for
dealing with the complex issues related to their children’s abuse. Most
importantly, the provision of a supportive care enhancing environment is a
prerequisite to the rapid recovery of the abused children.
- Trauma-informed care must
incorporate holistic and person-centered methods for the emotional
enhancement and mitigation of the abused children’s resentment.
- You must enhance the
protective factors of your children to increase their resilience and
coping skills against any type of abuse or misconduct.
- The individual-level
protective factors of child abuse (prevention) include self-regulation and
relational/academic skills of developing learners.
- The relationship-level
protective factors include the positive association with caretakers,
availability of caring adults, and parenting competencies.
- The community-level
protective factors include independent living support, stable living
circumstances, and a favorable school environment.
- You must not ignore any clue
revealing community-based exploitation or bullying of your children at
school. You should contact and report the school authorities in no time to
ascertain corrective actions against the bullying episode.
- CPC-CBT (Combined
Parent-Child Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is a robust intervention to
improve the recovery pace of the children affected by trauma and
abuse.
- You must say no to child
neglect since that potentially increases the risk of your child’s
exploitation, physical abuse, emotional harm, and trauma beyond
imagination.
References
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
2014. Child Abuse - The Hidden Bruises. [Online]
Available at: https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Child-Abuse-The-Hidden-Bruises-005.aspx
[Accessed 24 05 2020].
Childwelfare.Gov,
2015. Promoting Protective Factors for Children and Youth in Foster Care:
A Guide for Practitioners. [Online]
Available at: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/guide_fostercare.pdf
[Accessed 24 05 2020].
CWIG,
2018. Acts of Omission: An Overview of Child Neglect. [Online]
Available at: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/acts.pdf#page=2&view=Defining%20child%20neglect [Accessed
24 05 2020].
Medline Plus,
2020. Child Abuse. [Online]
Available at: https://medlineplus.gov/childabuse.html
[Accessed 24 05 2020].
SAMHSA,
2020. Understanding Child Trauma. [Online]
Available at: https://www.samhsa.gov/child-trauma/understanding-child-trauma
[Accessed 24 05 2020].
