How do you know if your child is being abused?

Answer 1

Beating is physical abuse. Cursing and berating the child is verbal and emotional abuse. These are abusive behaviors par excellence.

In addition to the above, other forms of child abuse are sexual abuse and child neglect.

You basicly know you get child abuse when they make you bleed or brused. My parents hit me and tell me to kill myself. I never knew it was child abuse until this year (im 14) when i finally got help.

Answer 2

Many times you cannot tell, unfortunately. Physical abuse is the only visible sort of abuse, but in many ways, emotional and sexual abuse are far worse.

Look for these signs, but know that there can be many more:

• physical signs such as frequent bruises or broken bones (you can expect children to have a certain amount of bruises and even broken bones due to normal childhood activity), frequent burns, unusual infections (such as vaginal infections in young girls due to sexual abuse), or abnormal scars
• lack of trust in others
• any sudden change in behavior or personality
• either extreme shyness OR extreme sociability -- often, an abused child will act like a social butterfly to cover up their feelings of worthlessness
• unusual sexual precocity in young children because of having been exposed to sex too early
• acting out -- many juvenile delinquents have been abused (but not all of them, so you can't automatically say someone who's a trouble maker has been abused)
• self-mutilation
• depression or unusual anxiety without a good reason -- however, there are also mental disorders which cause these symptoms, as well as good reasons such as a death in the family or anxiety about a divorce
• learning problems that aren't caused by a legitimate disorder such as ADHD or some other physical problem
• hypervigilant -- this means they always seem to be keyed up and watchful of everything around them, as though expecting disaster to fall
• overly passive, withdrawn, or compliant with adults
• does not want to go home -- may come to school or events early and want to stay late, may want to socialize at everyone's house but their own
• seems afraid of adults or authority figures
• sudden refusal to change for gym or PE -- often abused children are ashamed of their bodies, especially if they have been sexually abused, or if they have bruises or bite marks from physical abuse
• sudden changes in appetite

Notice that many of these signs can also be caused by perfectly ordinary situations, so don't jump the gun and play the abuse card just because you notice some signs. Do your homework and look at the whole family dynamics. See if the child seems to fear the relative you suspect of the abuse. Ask the child outright if they feel safe, or if someone has hurt them -- don't name names to them because they might feel that you want them to give a certain answer and tell you "yes" just to please you. Talk to a counselor, a minister, or your friends and voice your concerns to them. Get other opinions from objective sources about the child. Watch how the parents or other relatives interact with the child -- you can usually tell if something is "off" between an adult and a child, and you get a creepy feeling that there's something wrong.

If you find that a child is being abused, get help immediately. Report the situation to a professional who is trained to deal with it -- don't put yourself into a dangerous situation by trying to handle it yourself! An abusive person is a violent person, and you might easily get hurt.

If you are a child yourself, report it to the school official that you trust the most -- or to your minister or a policeman -- someone that you trust to deal with the problem the right way. If you are an adult, you should call the police or your local child welfare service. Give the evidence you have seen to the person you report this to so that they will know you're not just trying to get someone in trouble.

Answer 3

I am Susan's friend, trying to send you a report from Susan Stoll who has kept reports, e-mails, a mountain of documents to try to prove her child Patrick is being abused by his father since birth. Susan is not married to this man. Please send me an address to allow me to send a documented report. Susan is for real. Her tel.#904-735-7388 - her e-mail address is blueyesusan@Yahoo.com I can provide her address if you need. This is not a fraud claim. This is for real. You may reach me at 904-233-4784 to verify this e-mail and statement to you.

Answer 4

they may be very emotionally unstable, asking alot of abnormal questions if the abuse was sexually based or showing violent behaviour.