Prevent Child Abuse, the Best Way We Can

A child is a blessing, a gift for the continuity of life, he or she is helpless, innocent and fragile, and they are dependent on his or her parents for all their needs as they grows up. These situations of a child should not be taken advantage of, parents must be on guard on how to prevent child abuse.


If the way he or she was reared was tainted with negative experiences like verbal or physical abuse, the child will either develop a character that is not supposed to be for a normal individual. How can we prevent child abuse?


Start at home. Parents must know the rights of the child. Parents have their rights too to discipline the child, but it should be based on what is right and what is wrong. If a child reacts negatively on parent's prodding on behaving the right way, they should give him or her time to adjust and think over what they are trying to teach him. Try not force him or her use cuss words to stress a point.


Respect the child. If a child has some physical or mental handicap, parents, guardians, relatives and teachers, should know how to deal with the child. It is good there are special schools for children with such difficulties, to make them cope up the best way they can in spite of their situations.

Always be on guard. Observe the behavior of the child, if he or she behaves far from normal like being sociable and happy as children do. If he or she does not like to play or go to school, exhibits fear, wants to be alone, always wanted to be near his or her mother, restless, has tantrums, or sleep disorders and bed wetting, exhibits pain, has marks on his arms,legs or any part of his body, then the child needs closer attention. It is either the child is physically or sexually abused. You can talk with the child. Ask what bothers him or her. Tell him or her not to be afraid to talk about what happened to them, and rest assured that they will be safe from his or her abuser. If the child abuser is a relative or is living in the same household, parents should talk to him or her and warn him of the consequences of his or her acts. But if the abuser are the parents, then anyone, even a neighbor or a concerned relative can report it to the authorities for proper action.


Abused children whose parents are the main culprits are usually taken cared for by social workers in government or non-government institutions for children. There, they are given counseling and other activities until such time that they can cope up with the situation and embrace a new life, far from their horrible experiences.


Social workers also make follow ups on the child's family. If the child abuser was reformed, the child could be reintegrated with his family, but with the assurance that such abuse will not be committed again. Sometimes the child abusers have to face the law and be penalized if they had committed grave abuse against the child. This is one effective way of preventing child abuse.

The find out how you can become an advocate against child abuse please visit www.hawaiichildrenstrustfund.org for more detail.