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Dear Jack,
I’m an 8th grader at Scenic Middle School. I’ve had some friends who have not had the
best family situations. Sometimes they
tell me what’s going on at their homes, sometimes they don’t, but I have my own
ideas. I have always felt helpless and
don’t know what to do or what to say. I
think they just want someone to listen. I’m
not sure what child abuse really means and would not want to say something that
would get them in more trouble. Would
you please tell me exactly what child abuse is so I can be sure and do whatever
needs to be done to help my friends? I
have read that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and I want to know what I
can do to support this cause and to know what to do if those situations happen
again.
Sam
___________
Dear Sam,
It sounds like you are a very good friend. It can be very difficult for kids to tell
about abuse going on in their home. They
must trust you. There are several types
of child abuse: neglect, emotional, physical and sexual.
Neglect is when persons responsible for a child fail to
provide care, protection, and nurturing necessary for the child’s emotional
and/or physical well-being. Some examples are failure to provide adequate food,
clothing, shelter, or medical care.
Emotional abuse is when their emotional integrity (personal honesty and
independence) is compromised through name calling, degrading remarks,
judgmental looks/actions and conditional love.
Physical abuse occurs if the child has sustained any physical injury,
not by accidental means, and does not fit the explanation given.
Sexual abuse is the exploitation of a child for
the sexual gratification of an adult or significantly older person. This may
include touching of private parts, taking sexually explicit pictures of
children, showing children sexual pictures or having sex in front of a
child. Incest is when sexual abuse
happens between family members, including mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers,
grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, adoptive and step relations, legitimate and
illegitimate children, or relatives of whole or half blood.
It is important that the community knows about abuse and how
to keep children safe. We have a
Darkness to Light Training offered at the Children’s Advocacy Center which “educates
adults to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. It seeks to protect children from sexual
abuse by placing responsibility squarely on adult shoulders.” I know that you want to be the one to help
your friends and you can, by having the adults in your life take this training.
You can also let your friends know that there are places and people that are
here to help them: The Children’s
Advocacy Center, Sexual Assault Victim Services, Department of Human Services,
and Jackson County Mental Health to just name a few.
Thank you Sam, for giving me the opportunity to tell you
about how to recognize and prevent child abuse.
I hope your friends are able to get the help they need and recognize
what a good friend they have in you. If
you have any more questions, you can always call my mom, Toni, at CAC. Her phone number is: (541) 734-5437 X107.
Take care.
Jack
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