Child Abuse Prevention Month

If there's one thing that I'm passionate about besides my faith, its protecting innocent children from the evils of this world. April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month! I want everyone who reads this to hug their kids tighter, protect them, educate them, and BELIEVE them if they say someone is hurting them. Also, in the state of TN you are required to call the child abuse hotline if you suspect it. I've spent several years in social work and it never fails to surprise me of all the things that have happened. Check out these stats. They are shocking. Three children die everyday as a result of abuse. 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before they turn 18. 84% of prisoners were abused when they were children. More than 20% of children are sexually abused before they turn 8 years old!!! These are just a few shocking ones. I dealt with this everyday for several months at DCS, but I am shocked at these stats. Even more so since I have a daughter to protect. While working at a local Child Advocacy Center that deals specifically with child sexual abuse, I noticed that every single one of our victims were abused by a TRUSTED family member/friend, mostly step parents, or step brothers, some uncles, one female caretaker at a daycare, several at church, etc. I'm not telling you to not trust your family members or friends, but be aware of any changes in your children, listen to your gut, educate them on safety and touching rules. It makes a difference if they have that knowledge. This should go without saying, but if they tell you, BELIEVE them. I can't tell you how many times a child's MOTHER walked out without them b/c they refused to separate themselves from the abuser while an investigation could be done. They left their own child crying on a strangers lap, going home with a foster family after admitting they were abused. I couldn't imagine the courage it took for young kids to tell a stranger they were abused in detail, then have your own family reject the truth b/c they didn't want to believe it. Its up to you to protect your kids. This is mostly happening where you trust is the safest place for your kid. This is one crime that is reported equally at all socio-economic levels all over the world. Please EDUCATE for prevention. We all know someone who has been abused!
I have been on some of TN's worst physical abuse and neglect cases where kids were probably a day away from dying, for some it was a miracle they lived. I only saw 2 parents serve time for putting their nearly newborn into a dryer causing major damage in the brain. Three years after that, she is still receiving therapy and probably will for the rest of her life. I also had the end part of a case where 3 children were called in on suspect of abuse from a random patron of WalMart who could tell the kids were poorly taken care of. The children, all under 10, were chained to their beds, given cat food to eat, laying in the own defecation and urine, slowly dying, all being sexually abused daily. I've heard stories on Oprah, stories on the news, but its totally different when you see these kids come in grungy, smelly, hungry (eating whatever you put in front of them in one bite), and barely able to survive. It seems so simple, but parents really need to be educated as well on how to walk away when they get angry, or to call some reinforcement for help. Child Abuse CAN be prevented.

This is an example of corporal punishment in the school systems. Now, its not really popular to let the schools handle corporal punishment and its evident in this picture. How bad was this child to deserve such punishment? This why Daniel and I won't allow others to spank our kids. We're not opposed at all to spankings, but its my way of protecting our kids from an angry spanking/abuse. Too many people loose control when they spank, and then it ends in abuse. Kids can't trust their parents when they see them loosing control and beating them over and over again. This kid was obviously hit a lot of times and each time causing bruising. 

This is a picture of a young girl whose father beat her. She was returned to him after he followed the court's recommendations. This is very typical. Most kids get sent back to their parents unless its sex abuse or the parents don't follow the court's orders, which is usually Parenting Classes, Anger Management, Alcohol and Drug Assessment (even if its not a problem), Counseling, and a Mental Evaluation.


These are public images of actual abused children. I could not imagine AnnElise being one of these! If you suspect abuse, PLEASE call 1-800-4ACHILD. There are so many kids that have been saved by just someone taking notice of them at a store, and writing down a license plate number. Its not hard. If you don't, they can become one of the 3 kids that die everyday.