April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
If you suspect a child is being abused, report it so it can be investigated. We’ve all heard terrible accounts of children who have been abused for years, and no one knew it. No one protected them. Abuse in childhood can affect individuals throughout their whole lives; long after they have left childhood behind, they have not left the abuse behind.
We need good services to care for children who have been abused, but the better solution is to prevent child abuse before it happens. You can find excellent resources about preventing abuse at Child Welfare Information Gateway.
Abuse can happen anywhere—at any socioeconomic level; in any race or ethnic group; in families of all levels of educational achievement; in any city, town, or rural area.
Don’t be ignorant like I was many years ago when I failed to recognize the signs of abuse in a young boy in my Sunday School class.
And if you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, you’ll find information on how to leave the relationship or how to help a victim of domestic abuse on The Recovery Village resource page.