There are four common types of abuse:
- Physical abuse is the intentional use of physical force that can result in physical harm. Examples include hitting, kicking, shaking, burning, or other shows of force against a child.
- Sexual abuse involves pressuring or forcing a child to engage in sexual acts. It includes fondling, penetration, and exposing a child to sexual activities.
- Emotional abuse refers to behaviors that harm a child’s self-worth or emotional well-being. Examples include name calling, shaming, rejection, withholding love, and threatening.
- Neglect is the failure to meet a child’s basic physical and emotional needs. These needs include housing, food, clothing, education, and access to medical care.
Signs of Possible Physical Abuse
- Unexplained bruises in various stages of healing
- Self-destructive behaviors
- Unexplained burns – especially cigarette burns or glove-like burns
- Unexplained fractures, injuries or abrasions
- Nervousness, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, disruptive and destructive behaviors
- Unusual wariness of physical contact
- Inappropriate clothing to cover or conceal marks, burns or bruising
- Fear or withdrawing from parent or caretaker
- Lack of expressed emotion, unduly shy, withdrawn and passive
Signs of Possible Sexual Abuse
- Exhibiting sexual behaviors that are not appropriate for the child’s age or detailed and sophisticated understanding of sexual behavior
- Reversion to behaviors such as bed-wetting, speech loss and thumb-sucking
- Pain, itching, bruising or bleeding in the genital area or Venereal disease
- Exhibiting delinquent or aggressive behaviors
- Showing signs of depression
- Displaying self-injurious behaviors such as substance abuse, self-mutilation, suicide attempts, prostitution or running away
Signs of Possible Emotional Abuse
- Speech disorders, delayed physical or emotional development
- Habit disorders such as sucking or rocking
- Unduly passive and undemanding
- Extremely demanding, aggressive or angry behavior
- Antisocial, destructive attitude, depression or suicidal tendencies
- Attention-seeking activities
- Delinquent behavior – especially in adolescents
Signs of Possible Neglect
- Unattended medical needs
- Consistent lack of supervision
- Failure of parents to respond to school notices
- Consistent hunger, pale, listless, begs or steals food
- Inappropriate dress
- Poor hygiene
- Poor social skills
- Indiscriminate about his/her affection
- Frequent absences from school
- Falls asleep in class, regularly displays fatigue
- Self-destructive behaviors
Prevention and Treatments for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s):
ACEs can be prevented and could potentially reduce a large number of health conditions. It is estimated up to 1.9 million cases of heart disease and 21 million cases of depression could have been potentially avoided by preventing ACEs.
Child abuse and neglect result from the interaction of a number of individual, family, societal, and environmental factors. Child abuse and neglect are not inevitable-safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments are key for prevention. Preventing child abuse and neglect can also prevent other forms of violence, as various types of violence are interrelated and share many risk and protective factors, consequences, and effective prevention tactics.
School Personnel should be aware of traits that may be indicative that the child is suffering from stress, abuse or neglect. School Personnel have a duty to act when these signs or similar evidence presents itself that the child is being abused or neglected. If a crime is suspected an investigation must start. Other situations may provide the School Police or Resource Officer to work in tandem with school authorities to cause an investigation to dispel or confirm the suspicions.