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April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month

aprilchildabuseprevention

Families are the core entities of our society and the well being of each category of family members is a major concern on which we need to focus our attention. We claim to live in times when peace, equality and freedom are resources available to all, yet there is still room for abuse, violence and suffering.

The month of April is the host of a series of events meant to raise awareness about child abuse cases. Like any other movement, it targets to bring information and useful knowledge for the general public in a friendly but powerful way.

 The theme for this year’s National Child Abuse Prevention Month continues to be the well known “Making Meaningful Connections.” Translated, it means that every initiative targeting families needs to go on a broad range of levels, starting with the position of each individual inside a family and ending with the conglomerate we call “community”. Judging from this point of view, any kind of social disruption, regardless of scale, is a problem inherited by the whole community and every one of us is responsible for finding and hosting the transition towards the solution.

There are many ways in which you can help, and all of them imply cooperation between parents, at different levels of the community. You can start by attending the parents meeting at your local school/high school, set up a playgroup for your community and even attend local government meetings (city council) and let them know how much you care about your needs being heard loud and clear.

Many organizations target the prevention of child abuse and if free time is a resource at your disposal, you can sign up for volunteer work. Whatever your field of expertise might be, volunteer services are always seeking for fresh forces to fight for their cause.

The right kind of information is able to mold every person into a better one. There is an obvious shortage of that kind of information when it comes to raising a kid, especially for young couples. Fortunately, actions like the National Child Abuse Prevention Month bring to our attention some useful websites where such information is compiled.

Everything is there, but you need to know how to search for it. Fortunately, social media makes the job easy, as studies revealed we are more open to something if it was previously recommended by someone from our circle of friends.

Stress and financial problems are some of the most important causes that lead to child abuse. A family that lacks a stable situation and a solid plan for the future becomes vulnerable to conflicts which eventually harm their youngest members. Kids are the “usual suspects” for abuse, because they lack the ability to defend themselves or become independent.

They are also silent victims, converting abuse to fear and hate, and risking to avoid future social contact. Individuals who suffered from abuse in their childhood (either from piers, either from family members) have the needed premise to become introverts and to fail as adults.

Depression and other special conditions, able to negatively influence the quality of life, are usually triggered by abuse and constant exposure to a fear climate. Mono-parental families are also more vulnerable to experience child-abuse and the community needs to support such special cases.

Being different from the others is not always an advantage. Being perceived as “not one of us” is enough reason to trigger abuse and bullying and this is a widespread phenomenon inside groups of children. Although we look at it as not something worth our attention, not being validated by social groups, being rejected hurts the same as any other form of abuse.

If we do not focus to go beyond differences and learn to accept, we are only setting the path for today’s kids to become the frustrated, problem-making adults of tomorrow. Preventing child abuse is the best way to make sure our future will be a better one.

               

 Child Abuse Prevention Month

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