http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140211132959.htm
This article talks about a peer reviewed article that will be released in March 2014. It discusses the relationship between income inequality and child maltreatment. "Nearly 3 million children younger than 18 are physically abused, sexually abused, physically neglected or emotionally abused each year in the United States." This is a huge amount of children being mistreated. The authors looked at the relationship between income and geographical locations. I think it will be really interesting to read the entire article and study when it is released in March.
I find it incredibly disturbing to see the amount of maltreatment occurring each year. There needs to be more awareness about this issue and more prevention strategies in place. I know that children services in Allen county provide several parenting classes and healthy partner classes, but I am not aware of other strategies in place to reduce these numbers. Child Abuse Prevention month is coming up in April. I think this is great opportunity to educate and inform the community of this issue and educate them appropriately. This will need to be well advertised and promoted. I have talked with several families who want to report on child abuse, but don't know how to go about actually reporting it. I feel that to keep our kids safe, we need to educate early on what maltreatment is and how to develop healthy relationships.
I strongly agree with you Robin. Educating people is so very important. The more people that know how to go about reporting child abuse the better chances we will have of reducing those numbers of abused and neglected children. I know Franklin County Children Services has a nice website that explains how to report abuse and neglect, but then again not everyone would have access to that information.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you as well. I know that Franklin County does have a workshop series for Mother's picking the right partner, but I don't remember what the name of it is. I think it is a really important issue. So often women fall into the same trap when it comes to domestic violence and dating. These decisions effect their children as well. It is vital to educate Mothers on how to choose their partners and put their children first when making dating decisions.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of reports that come into children services are those of neglect and dependent children. Those cases of severe physical abuse are rare, and while sexual abuse seems rampant at child protective services, so many more of the cases involve neglect. More and more cases are involving child living in homes where parents abuse drugs, leaving children at higher risk for neglect and maltreatment. With drugs then comes the potential for legal troubles, jail time, or prison time, leaving counties with many dependent children. I absolutely agree that issues of child abuse and neglect needs to be brought to light in communities, especially educating people on what neglect looks like as well. Pushing for more parenting programs is an excellent way to move forward with this issue, but so much more needs to be done. Thank you for this article!
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