April is apparently National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Does anyone else feel like this shouldn't be a thing? Not that we should be preventing child abuse, mind you, but the fact that we actually need to make a conscious effort to do so!
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| (Image found at:http://www.andersen.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123053108) |
National Child Abuse Prevention Month began in 1983 in the United States. The purpose of the month-long theme was to begin a conversation about how to decrease the instances of child abuse. This year, marks the 40th anniversary of the Child Abuse and Treatment Act, which was another factor in creating the Month.
Child abuse can take place in several ways: physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse. In fact, the definition of child abuse reads as follows: "the physical, sexual or emotional maltreatment or neglect of a child or children." A study by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that in 2009 25.9% of survey respondents indicated that they had been exposed to conditions of verbal abuse as a child, 14% reported instances of physical abuse, and 12.2% have experienced sexual abuse. The greatest instances of abuse were flagged by participants between the ages of 18-24 at the time of the survey, which means, there is still quite a bit of abuse taking place today.
The sad truth is that, National Child Abuse Prevention Month is still relevant and necessary. Together we can, hopefully, build a culture of intolerance for future generations.
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| (Image found at: http://fssba.org/announcements/april-is-child-abuse-prevention-month) |
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