"Mentor a teen parent. Currently Calhoun County has one of the highest teen
pregnancy rates in the state. Statistically, children of teen parents are at
a greater risk of suffering abuse. Teens often lack the maturity and
patience needed to survive difficult moments with young children. "
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Child Abuse Prevention Tips
The Calhoun Child Abuse/Neglect Prevention Council in Battle Creek, Michigan offers several tips for concerned individuals to help prevent child abuse and neglect in your community, including:
One Woman's Experience of Child Abuse
Mutryce A. Williams writes a commentary for Caribbean Net News describing her experience of abuse as a child, how she overcame it, and how important it is for communities to acknowledge and work to prevent this damage.
CAAM Events Around America
Pinwheels in Vinton County, Ohio
Blue flags in Loveland, Colorado
Forum on Child Abuse and Neglect in Gary, Indiana
Public awareness fair in Salt Lake City, Utah
Pinwheels in Lancaster, Ohio
More blue pinwheels in Dothan, Alabama
Blue flags in Loveland, Colorado
Forum on Child Abuse and Neglect in Gary, Indiana
Public awareness fair in Salt Lake City, Utah
Pinwheels in Lancaster, Ohio
More blue pinwheels in Dothan, Alabama
Monday, April 21, 2008
My Experience Witnessing Child Abuse
When my wife and I lived in Orlando we had annual passes to Disney, and we would often go for an afternoon or evening. After the crowds had thinned a bit and it had cooled down a little, we found the park to be much more pleasant.
On one evening we went directly to my favorite ride, the Haunted Mansion. At night, the entrance can be somewhat hard to find so it was much less crowded than normal, but there was still a crowd of perhaps forty people waiting at the entrance.
We walked up to the back of the crowd and stood waiting, and I noticed a woman several feet in front of me with two children, a young girl and a young teen boy. The crowd had the unmistakable air of Disney fatigue and was very quiet as they waited. Perhaps this made the woman sound even louder, but she was shouting at the children in what seemed to me like an exaggerated way. I remember thinking: “Jeez, lady, calm down.”
As she kept yelling I wondered if she might be drunk. I don’t remember what she was yelling but it didn’t make much sense, and it doesn’t matter what she was yelling.
Then she reached out and hit the young girl with a hard slap on the side of her head. The girl fell back and landed into the teen boy, who might have been her brother. He had a morose, detached, tired look that was sad to see, especially in a place known as the Happiest Place on Earth. His expression made me think he had seen this display far too many times. The boy put his arm around the little girl’s shoulders as she leaned into him and cried.
Then the woman shouted, “don’t comfort her!” and shoved him hard, nearly punched him, on the shoulder.
At this point, the silence of the crowd surrounding this scene was deafening. The cold jolt of shock ran through my body. I asked myself, unbelieving, “did anybody else just see that?”
Anybody who had seen it diligently pretended that they hadn’t. My wife is mandated by law to report such situations to the authorities, and I am mandated by my sense of justice.
Shortly after, Disney staff admitted people into the Haunted Mansion, but inexplicably the woman stayed outside while the children went in. I walked back out of the attraction until I saw a cast member and asked them to bring security, while my wife followed the woman, who wandered around to the Mansion’s exit and talked on her cell phone.
After a while, security arrived and escorted the woman and the children to the security offices. We were asked to follow so we could make a statement. We waited and chatted at the Disney security office until a Sheriff’s Office Deputy interviewed us and asked us to fill out statements regarding what we had seen. The Deputy couldn’t tell us what the result of his investigation would be, whether the children would be removed from the woman’s care, whether the woman would be arrested. After interviewing us, he went to interview the woman and children. All in all, the process took around two hours, most of which was waiting.
I wasn’t even sure that what we had seen was abuse, or a crime. It’s not at all uncommon to see parents swatting children’s behinds at Disney, or parents yelling or threatening. But this was a step beyond that, and in retrospect I’m still sure we did the right thing by reporting it.
On one evening we went directly to my favorite ride, the Haunted Mansion. At night, the entrance can be somewhat hard to find so it was much less crowded than normal, but there was still a crowd of perhaps forty people waiting at the entrance.
We walked up to the back of the crowd and stood waiting, and I noticed a woman several feet in front of me with two children, a young girl and a young teen boy. The crowd had the unmistakable air of Disney fatigue and was very quiet as they waited. Perhaps this made the woman sound even louder, but she was shouting at the children in what seemed to me like an exaggerated way. I remember thinking: “Jeez, lady, calm down.”
As she kept yelling I wondered if she might be drunk. I don’t remember what she was yelling but it didn’t make much sense, and it doesn’t matter what she was yelling.
Then she reached out and hit the young girl with a hard slap on the side of her head. The girl fell back and landed into the teen boy, who might have been her brother. He had a morose, detached, tired look that was sad to see, especially in a place known as the Happiest Place on Earth. His expression made me think he had seen this display far too many times. The boy put his arm around the little girl’s shoulders as she leaned into him and cried.
Then the woman shouted, “don’t comfort her!” and shoved him hard, nearly punched him, on the shoulder.
At this point, the silence of the crowd surrounding this scene was deafening. The cold jolt of shock ran through my body. I asked myself, unbelieving, “did anybody else just see that?”
Anybody who had seen it diligently pretended that they hadn’t. My wife is mandated by law to report such situations to the authorities, and I am mandated by my sense of justice.
Shortly after, Disney staff admitted people into the Haunted Mansion, but inexplicably the woman stayed outside while the children went in. I walked back out of the attraction until I saw a cast member and asked them to bring security, while my wife followed the woman, who wandered around to the Mansion’s exit and talked on her cell phone.
After a while, security arrived and escorted the woman and the children to the security offices. We were asked to follow so we could make a statement. We waited and chatted at the Disney security office until a Sheriff’s Office Deputy interviewed us and asked us to fill out statements regarding what we had seen. The Deputy couldn’t tell us what the result of his investigation would be, whether the children would be removed from the woman’s care, whether the woman would be arrested. After interviewing us, he went to interview the woman and children. All in all, the process took around two hours, most of which was waiting.
I wasn’t even sure that what we had seen was abuse, or a crime. It’s not at all uncommon to see parents swatting children’s behinds at Disney, or parents yelling or threatening. But this was a step beyond that, and in retrospect I’m still sure we did the right thing by reporting it.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
American Humane Association Tips
The American Humane Association offers several tips for preventing or reporting child abuse or neglect, including:
"Don't let uneasiness about reporting suspected abuse or neglect interfere with your taking the proper steps for the well-being of a child. To overcome any reservations about becoming involved, consider that the consequences of not reporting your concerns to child welfare professionals could be seriously detrimental to a child's safety."
Read the full report here.
"Don't let uneasiness about reporting suspected abuse or neglect interfere with your taking the proper steps for the well-being of a child. To overcome any reservations about becoming involved, consider that the consequences of not reporting your concerns to child welfare professionals could be seriously detrimental to a child's safety."
Read the full report here.
CDC Nonfatal Maltreatment of Infants Report
The Centers for Disease Control recently published a report stating that from October 2005 to September 2006 there were approximately 905,000 children in the U.S. who were victims of maltreatment. The very detailed report can be found here.
More CAAM Events
Rally on capitol steps in Salem, Oregon, with video report
"Cherish the Children" program in Decatur, Illinois
"Pinwheels for Prevention" in Atlanta, Georgia
Walk for awareness in Jeffersonville, Indiana
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