Children are the future and it is the responsibility of adults to protect them and ensure that they get the best footing in life. Unfortunately this is not always the case in many nations around the world – including our own! This list looks at ten of the worst situations that children today are forced to face. It is hard to believe that these situations still occur, but learning about them is a good way to start trying to help.

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http://listverse.com/2009/07/06/top-10-terrible-issues-facing-children-worldwide/

Child neglect cited as equal to physical or sex abuse

CHILD neglect can be just as harmful to children’s cognitive development as physical and sexual abuse, a new study shows. But child protection authorities do not treat neglect with the same urgency as other forms of child maltreatment. The study of almost 4000 children aged 14 revealed that those with a history of reported abuse or neglect scored on average three IQ points lower than children who had not been maltreated. And the children who had been neglected did just as poorly as children with a history of physical or sexual abuse.

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http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/child-neglect-cited-as-equal-to-physical-or-sex-abuse-20101226-197xe.html

An 18-month-old girl critically injured this week in an alleged child abuse incident inside a Fond du Lac area home died on Thursday. Fond du Lac County Medical Examiner Dr. Douglas Kelley confirmed Thursday afternoon that Chloe Gessner died at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Tyler J. Jackson, the man arrested in connection with injuries to the child, appeared in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court on Thursday for a bail hearing. Circuit Court Judge Robert Wirtz set bail at $200,000.

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http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20101227/OSH0101/312270137/Toddler-in-alleged-abuse-case-dies

Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said deputies arrived to 788 Murphy Road just before 4:30 p.m. Thursday. A man who lived in the house found the bodies of a man, woman, and two children, and called for help. Later Thursday evening, Lauderdale County coroner, Clayton Cobler, confirmed what was suspected, that the case was a triple murder suicide. “An adult male who lives at this residence arrived home this afternoon and found the four individuals inside the home. All appeared to have been shot,” said Sollie. “There is a weapon inside the house that we have recovered, and it will be processed as part of the evidence.” The man and woman were the parents of the two children, ages 4 and 5, but Sollie said the couple was not married to each other.

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http://www.wtok.com/news/headlines/Four_Dead_Lauderdale_County_Mississippi.html

Two people have been arrested in the death of a 3-year-old Gothenburg girl. Gothenburg police chief Randy Olson says 27-year-old Doris Herrin and 24-year-old Adam Jesseph face charges of child abuse resulting in death. Herrin is the mother of Misty Herrin, who died last week. Jesseph is the mother’s boyfriend. Police say Misty was unresponsive when she was taken to a Gothenburg hospital on Tuesday afternoon. She was then flown to a Kearney hospital, where she underwent surgery for a brain injury. She died Wednesday. Court documents indicate the girl was shaken.

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http://www.1011now.com/news/headlines/Mom_Boyfriend_Arrested_in_Death_of_Gothenburg_Girl_112479779.html

Each time we report on a child who has fallen victim to abuse or neglect, it’s difficult. But it’s a reality that occurs far too often across the country, throughout the state, and right here in Northeast Indiana. Some startling statistics from the Indiana Department of Child Services indicated that more often than not, parents are the abusers in these cases. In Indiana in 2008, of 2,361 physical abuse cases, the mother was the abuser in 750 of those cases and the father in 810 cases. Of 17,742 neglect cases, the mother was the perpetrator 10,396 times and the father 4,172 times.

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http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/101210-child-abuse-and-neglect-statistics-111694554.html

At the airport with kids: Are they really going to pat down little Sally?

Over the river and through the body scanner to Grandmother’s house we go! What a fun, new twist on traveling with the kids this year. And you thought getting them to take their shoes off and let Bunky the Bear go through the dark tunnel was hard. For this holiday season, parents get to choose between a scanner that will generate portraits of your kids looking like nude ghosts and, according to some reports, give off questionable levels of radiation, or they can take the little ones for a rubber-glove pat down that will upend years of stranger-danger training.

After the Transportation Security Administration announced these more invasive pat downs as an alternative and sometimes in addition to the body scanners, dozens of stories of groping and humiliation have surfaced online from adults.

Upon hearing these stories, parentworld, predictably, went bananas. On playgrounds, at playdates and across e-mail groups, parents railed against the TSA, wondering aloud if its personnel are pedophiles with badges. Many even canceled their holiday travel plans with righteous indignation. This is fertile ground for a millennial mom and dad’s worst fears.

READ MORE HERE:

http://brainerddispatch.com/opinion/other-opinion/2010-12-24/airport-kids-are-they-really-going-pat-down-little-sally

Children’s Charities report uptick in donations due to Facebook cartoon character ‘campaign’

If you changed your avatar on Facebook last week to that of a cartoon character in support of “anti-child violence”, you can tell all the haters to suck it, because some actual charities actually benefited from the “social media awareness campaign.” It still stands to reason that not one child has been or stands to not be abused by tiny squares bearing the image of Spongebob, but at least some people got off their asses and did something in response to the campaign. (Although it’s possible it was in response to the backlash, and being told via Facebook that their profile pics are really not impactful one way or the other regarding whether kids are abused.)

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http://www.inquisitr.com/92537/child-abuse-facebook-meme-childrens-charities/

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Nancy Collins, the custodial grandmother of of Sylar Newton, was arrested Christmas morning on a child abuse warrant. The 57 year-old was found by Flagstaff police at an area motel. Yavapai County sheriff’s officers had been searching for Collins since Thursday when she and her daughter Christina Priem were charged with intentional child abuse relating to the death of Sylar. Collins was booked into the Coconino County jail district detention center. She was also charged with felony drug violations. The charges against Collins and her daughter relate directly to events leading to Sylar Newton’s death while in their custody.

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http://www.azfamily.com/news/Custodial-Grandmother-Arrested-112455974.html

Registered Sex offender arrested for sexual battery

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – A registered sex offender was arrested Wednesday on 280 counts of sexual battery. Osceola County Sheriff’s detectives arrested Thomas Galbraith, 38, after a victim from a previous arrest came forward with new information. Galbraith was originally arrested in October of 2009 and charged with four counts of Lewd & Lascivious Battery and one count of child abuse after a 13-year-old victim reported sexual abuse from a family member. Galbraith was convicted in December of 2009 on 2 counts of Lewd & Lascivious Battery and was registered as a sex offender serving 10 years of probation.

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http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/osceola_news/122310-sex-offender-arrested-for-sexual-battery

Speech pathologist charged with 50 counts of child pornography

MCCRACKEN COUNTY, Ky – Sheriff’s Detectives have arrested Ronald Saunders II in connection with the death of two year old Conner Bachuss. Conner Bachuss was found unresponsive in his residence on December 5, 2010 and was taken to Lourdes Emergency Room by Mercy Regional EMS. He was transported to Kosairs Children’s Hospital where he later died from his injuries. Examinations from the state medical examiner and Kosairs Children’s Hospital revealed that Bachuss had multiple small puncture wounds on the bottoms of his feet and on other areas of his body. Subsequently, a push pin was found in Bachuss abdomen. The tack had apparently been ingested by Bachuss at some point.

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http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/ky-state-news/Man-charged-with-murder-of-two-year-old-112342449.html

CLIFTON, CO – The 22-year-old mother, Kayla Settle,  of two was arrested on suspicion of setting fire to her apartment last month while her brother and two children were inside. On Nov 19 her daughter woke her up because their apartment was on fire and luckily everyone inside were able to get out safely. Settle later told investigators that she had woke up that night to a masked man with a gun in her kid’s room. She said he sexually assaulted her and knocked her unconscious before setting a fire in her kid’s room. After further questioning, Settle finally admitted she had made up the intruder story and she was the one who set the fire.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.dreamindemon.com/2010/12/24/mother-charged-with-setting-fire-to-home-with-her-children-inside/