For The Love of a Child

For the Love of a Child

Imagine just for a moment, you are a child again. Your parent is lying on the couch passed out. You try your hardest to come in the door and not wake them, because you know if you do you will get in trouble. You try to sneak into your room without being noticed. Your parent wakes up from their slumber and they see you. You just freeze and stand as still as you can. You hope and pray they just let you walk on by. But, no you are not so lucky. They begin to yell at you over the littlest of things. If you say anything back or even give a look you are at risk for getting hit.

If you have younger siblings you try your best to protect them from also being hurt. You feel helpless and hopeless. You are afraid to tell because you have in the past and have paid the price! You end up having to care for your siblings and you get blamed for their mistakes too.  

No child deserves to be hurt or hit. It doesn’t matter what they have done or not done. When an adult abuses a child, they are causing more then physical harm. They are causing emotional and mental harm as well. Physical hurt lasts a short time, but the mental and emotional scares last a life time and can carry into so many parts of an abused child’s life.

April is National Child Abuse Awareness Month. Part of my job is to keep children safe. I have seen first hand what abuse can do to a child. They are afraid all the time. They trust no one. They are so scared to talk that sometimes they do what ever they can to avoid talking about home or their abuser.

How can we help these children who are being hurt? Stand up for them! They don’t have a voice. They are scared and helpless. It is our job as caring adults to take a stand for children who are being hurt and abused or neglected.

How can you tell if a child may be the victim of abuse? Well, first if they tell you. They are telling you a big secret and they are trusting you with it that you will help them. Second, a fear of going home. If they child you are talking to never seems to want to go home or they make excuses to stay with you then that is a red flag.

If you see marks that are in the shape of something on their bodies, like a cord, finger or grip marks, lots of bruises in multiple stages of healing, or their story of the injury doesn’t match the injury. They are trying to cover up the story because they are scared.

When a child or teen comes to you to tell them of abuse, please I beg you, don’t tell them you will keep it a secret. You need to report it to the authorities immediately! If the parent is not the abuser then you need to talk with the parent to make them aware of the situation. If the child is afraid to tell their parent then figure out why they are scared. Try not to ask a lot of questions of the abuse. Get just enough information to know the situation then make a report to Child Protective Services and/or the police.

As someone who works with children it breaks my heart to think someone is purposely hurting a child. I take my job very seriously when it come to protecting and helping children. My client kiddos know if they tell me they are being hurt that I will help them the best way I can.

I am a mandated reporter, are you? If you work with children in some way then you are! This includes on a volunteer bases. This also includes pastors and clergy. Please take this seriously. A child’s life could be at stake! If you don’t know how to make a report then ask someone who you know is a mandated reporter. They can help you! You may be this child’s only way out of a bad situation.