Child Abuse and Neglect...

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. You guessed what's next... the gruesome statistics... A child abuse case is reported every 10 seconds! And 4 children die a day due to child abuse.

There are a lot more statistics out there, and a quick Google search will engulf you with more than you want to know. My sole purpose of this post is to state the obvious; go back to basics...

I'm a father to 4 wonderful children, and it's hard to imagine that three quarters of all reported cases are due to parents as the perpetrators!

Every child has the right to live a life free from abuse or neglect. It's every parents responsibility to ensure that right for our children. What exactly does this mean?

Although it may seem subtle, every action we as parental adults exhibit have a direct or indirect effect on our children. It's called our "upbringing" and it's what many children later in adult life blame on their problems or current situations.

What my children call "unfair" now, is what I hope they call "parental love" when they get to be my age.

We won’t be there for our kids 100% of the time, to shelter them like we would want. But we need to instill and pass our values to our children while they are children. It's what is required from us. We won’t ever have 100% control of who interacts with our children. The values we pass down to our children will let them make a [moral] decision on the matters that present themselves later in life. It will have a direct or indirect effect on the way they interact with their own children.

I know of people that consider "sheltering" a means of controlling ones own selfish desires. People want others to think for themselves. It’s easy to say, "I’ll let her make her own decision, it’s her life anyway; she will make mistakes, and determine herself if her thinking is correct". Well, that’s not necessarily being a parent. Sure it’s correct to some extent, but not until after we have given our children the necessary instruction while they grow up. Children are children, and they need our guidance (as they soak it like a sponge at an early age). After they marry and part from their parents, we break a major part of the parental tie. Sure you will always be there to help them through their lifelong struggles, but at that point, they will hopefully carry on the same sense of judgment that we tried so hard to instill.

The Cass County Community Health Assessment Resource Team (CHART) is doing their part by starting an initiative that is set to asses and plan for prevention of child abuse and neglect within the area.

CHART will be conducting a survey of residents, through different venues, regarding the responder’s perception of the problem in Cass County.

The survey also solicits input from survey participants about how to address the issue. It is a one page, 11 question document designed to be taken in less than 10 minutes. Those living and/or working in Cass County are eligible to complete the survey. Those interested can find the survey here.