April

April is National Child Abuse Prevention month.

Millions of American children suffer and fall victim to abuse or neglect everyday.

Here are some statistics:

courtersy of childhelp.org

• A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds.
Almost five children die everyday as a result of child abuse. More than three out of four are under the age of 4.
Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education.
About 30% of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse.
In 2007, approximately 5.8 million children were involved in an estimated 3.2 million child abuse reports and allegations.

Child abuse is a vicious cycle.

Education is a huge preventative.

Therefore, in my Child Development class I will be implementing weeks worth of lessons on child abuse.

Most young teen mothers and fathers do not even know what counts as neglect and abuse.

And one of the main causes of abuse is emotional immaturity.

Be sure to familiarize yourself with signs of abuse, whether it is physical, verbal/emotional, or sexual.