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.

READ MORE HERE:

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

Child Sex Abuse Survivors Face Health Issues

A paper released by the University of Auckland has called for recognizing child sex abuse as a public health issue. The document appeared in the Women & Health journal is based on the study of the needs of survivors. It brought out the problems and challenges that female child sexual abuse survivors experienced when seeking health services. In New Zealand, around 25% of women are victims of child sex abuse and more suffering associated with general medical and mental health problems are suffered by adult survivors.

READ MORE HERE:

http://topnews.net.nz/content/210873-child-sex-abuse-survivors-face-health-issues

President Obama signs Dodd’s bill to protect children and victims of domestic violence

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) released a statement after President Obama signed into law Dodd’s Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) reauthorization bill, which will strengthen federal efforts to identify, treat, and prevent the abuse and neglect of our nation’s children. This bill also reauthorizes the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), which helps states prevent domestic violence and provides services to victims of domestic violence and their families.

“Today is a victory for the safety of our nation’s children and families. The number of children abused or neglected and individuals affected by domestic and dating violence is astounding and intolerable,” said Dodd. “We have an enormous responsibility to protect our most vulnerable citizens. With the signing of the CAPTA reauthorization bill, President Obama is ensuring that our states will have the resources to combat child abuse and neglect and that victims of violence and abuse will get the help they need. States will now be able to fund critical services that will provide a better life and future for all of our nation’s children and families.”

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.connecticutplus.com/cplus/information/news/News_1/President-Obama-signs-Dodd-s-bill-to-protect-children-and-victims-of-domestic-violence1108311083.shtml

CDC: Majority of U.S. adults had troubled childhoods

Almost 60% of American adults say they had difficult childhoods featuring abusive or troubled family members or parents who were absent due to separation or divorce, federal health officials report. In fact, nearly 9% said that while growing up they underwent five or more “adverse childhood experiences” ranging from verbal, physical or sexual abuse to family dysfunction such as domestic violence, drug or alcohol abuse, or the absence of a parent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Adverse childhood experiences are common,” said study coauthor Valerie J. Edwards, team lead for the Adverse Childhood Experiences Team at CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. “We need to do a lot more to protect children and help families,” she said. About a quarter of the more than 26,000 adults surveyed reported experiencing verbal abuse as children, nearly 15% had been physical abused, and more than 12% — more than one in 10 — had been sexually abused as a child.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.app.com/article/20101220/LIFE11/101220039/CDC-Majority-of-U-S-adults-had-troubled-childhoods

The New Child Abuse: The Psychiatric Diagnosing and Drugging of Our Children

Every society has found its own methods to abuse its most vulnerable members: children; women; the elderly; ethnic, racial and religious minorities; the poor; the mentally distressed or distressing; the physically disabled; those with unconventional lifestyles. All of these have been widely abused and all remain victims of abuse to varying degrees in societies throughout the world.

Just as it is certain that these abuses can never be fully eliminated, it is also certain that these same abuses will expand to the degree that individual citizens justify or ignore them and fail to take a stand. In the past, the most rampant abuses have been justified on moral, religious, patriotic or ethnic grounds. But increasingly we will see the worst abuses rationalized on scientific and medical grounds. It’s the modern way.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-peter-breggin/the-new-child-abuse-psych_b_788900.html

Government Outlaws Drop-Side Cribs

The cribs are blamed for more than 30 deaths over the past 10 years.

WASHINGTON — It’s the end of the traditional crib that has cradled millions of babies for generations. The government outlawed drop-side cribs on Wednesday after the deaths of more than 30 infants and toddlers in the past decade and millions of recalls. It was a unanimous vote by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban the manufacture, sale and resale of the cribs, which have a side rail that moves up and down, allowing parents to more easily lift their child from the crib. The new standard requiring cribs to have fixed sides would take effect in June. The move by CPSC would also prohibit hotels and childcare centers from using drop-sides, though those facilities would have a year to purchase new cribs.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-drop-side-cribs-outlawed,0,7033508.story

Disney’s ‘Tangled’ Takes On the Serious Issue of Emotional Child Abuse

A week or so ago, thousands of Facebook users changed their identifying photos to cartoon characters in a vague attempt to “raise awareness” of child abuse. Ironically, at the same time a new hit movie was using animation to focus on the same subject in a more sophisticated manner. The movie? Disney’s “Tangled.” No kidding. Slipped inside the gorgeous images, entertaining songs and fairy-tale narrative is a clear-eyed look at the way predatory abusers maintain control of their victims. The villain may be Disney’s skin-crawlingly nastiest because her evil is so un-magically human.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/12/11/disneys-tangled-takes-on-the-serious-issue-of-emotional-child/

Family violence is expected to peak over the Christmas holiday season, with police statistics showing that almost 10 per cent of incidents of abuse reported last year occurred in December. Of the 35,720 family incidents reported to Victoria Police in 2009, 3566 happened in the final month of the year. Since 2003 there have been 686 reported incidents on Christmas Day, with 975 reported incidents on New Year’s Day since 2004. In Bendigo, more than 30 women sought help because of domestic violence during the five days from Christmas Day.

From December 25 to December 30, Emergency Accommodation and Support Enterprise had 13 walk-ins who needed help and 21 police referrals. EASE chief executive Margaret Augerinos said although abuse occurred all year round for some woman and children, it was often exacerbated during the festive season, particularly when drugs and alcohol were consumed or custody issues not yet finalised.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/general/rise-in-family-violence/2022727.aspx

Neglect is the most common form of child abuse and accounts for more than half of all reported cases. Dave Pelzer, author of several books including A Child Called It was the victim of many abuses including neglect. In his book, he writes:

“When I was given the luxury of food, I ate like a homeless dog; grunting like an animal at Mother’s commands. I no longer cared when she made fun of me, as I hurried to devour even the smallest morsel. Nothing was below me. One Saturday while I was washing the morning dishes, Mother scraped some half-eaten pancakes from a plate, into the dogs’ dish. Her well-fed pets picked at the food until they wanted no more, then walked away to find a place to sleep. Later, as I put away some pots and pans in a lower cabinet, I crawled on my hands and knees to the dogs’ dish and ate what was left of the pancakes. As I ate, I could smell traces of the dogs, but I ate anyway.”

Many battered children are also neglected. If their parents or care providers do not provide adequate food, clothing, shelter or medical care, they are neglected. Besides these basic needs, they also deserve love, and an education so they can survive as adults. In North America, an education is mandatory. The child must be home schooled or sent to school.

READ MORE HERE:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/lynscircle/archives/231189.asp

Trafficked Teen Girls Describe Life In ‘The Game’

Last month, the FBI announced the results of Operation Cross Country V, a 40-city investigation that led to the rescue of 69 children who were being victimized through prostitution. More than 800 people, including 99 pimps, were arrested. According to the FBI, more than 100,000 children are sold for sex in the U.S. each year. In a two-part series, Youth Radio takes a look at the problem of child prostitution in the U.S. Today, two young women who recently escaped what’s called “the game” share their stories.

“I’d wake up at 5; I’d be outside by 5:30,” says Brittney, 19. “I would just wait and see what happened, whether it’d be in the streets or whether I’d be on the Internet. And then I won’t be able to come back inside until like 2 o’clock in the morning, so I’d get only, like, three hours of rest.” Brittney, a former sex worker, agreed to share her story under the condition that her real name not be used. She’s a native of Oakland, Calif., and only recently out of what’s called “the game.” Less than a year ago, Brittney was being forced to work as a prostitute on the Internet and on the streets of Oakland.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/06/131757019/youth-radio-trafficked-teen-girls-describe-life-in-the-game?sc=emaf

Asked to investigate the roots of child abuse, a group of social engineers focused not on its causes but its prevention.

No one wants to be anywhere near the phrase “child abuse.” Parents flee from programs that would tar them as “high risk.” Teachers and child care providers fear the mistrust that comes with any hint they might call Child Protective Services. Those services don’t receive children until it’s too late to prevent abuse. And the public numbs to PSAs with warnings like, “Every 10 seconds, another child is abused in America …” (which is, unfortunately, about right).

“What they hear is, ‘It’s so bad, there’s nothing you can do about it, and we should just put those bad parents in jail,’” said Judy Langford, who directs the child abuse and neglect prevention program with the Center for the Study of Social Policy. “When you work with families, it’s so depressing when you look at everything in that way.”

READ MUCH  MORE HERE:

http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/a-cure-for-child-abuse-25882/

Facebook Cartoon Profile Pics Putting A Face On Child Abuse

It is amazing what advancing technology allows computer gurus to accomplish and how easy computers make communicating with one another. Social Networking has spread like a wildfire and everyone who is anyone is part of the Facebook phenomenon. Facebook is a social networking service that allows users to communicate with millions of other active Facebook users. Facebook is responsible for putting in contact lost friends, family and co-workers around the world. Since first launching in 2004, Facebook has reached the half way mark to reaching 1 billion active users and is expected to do so in the next year or so.

Facebook is not only used for socializing, it is also used by millions of businesses to reach a large viewing audience at once. Advertisers are sometimes more successful advertising on Facebook, than they are on television. Even aiding organizations are looking to spread awareness using social networking and are quite successful at it. This week, Facebook users will be changing their profile picture to represent a favorite cartoon character they remember as a child. The purpose behind this trend is to bring awareness to child abuse.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.reviewsofelectronics.com/facebook-cartoon-profile-pics-putting-a-face-on-child-abuse/222749/

LOS ANGELES ( KTLA) — The FBI is warning parents that a new Barbie doll could be used against little girls, possibly by pedophiles. “Video Girl Barbie” has a camera in her chest that can record up to 30 minutes of video, which can be streamed to a computer. In a Nov. 30th memo, the FBI dubbed the doll a “possible child pornography production method.” Authorities say there have been no incidents so far.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-video-barbie-child-porn,0,5644537.story