April is Child Abuse Prevention Month in the United States. Child Abuse… Why Is Child Abuse Prevention Important?
I believe the future of the world depends on how well we care for our children today. This is not hyperbole. This is a proven fact. We get what we create and what we create is worth investing in now.
Children learn who they are, what others think of them, and what we expect from them every day from birth forward. Many would actually say they start receiving this information before birth.
First, babies learn about what it means to be alive from their parents and caregivers touch. Is it a gentle touch? Are they safe? Are they valued as living beings? They receive these messages from the sound of their parents’ and caregivers’ voices and eye contact. Are they receiving loving cooing sounds, sweet smiles and laughter? Or is there emptiness, or violence in the air and towards them?
Our world, and that includes all aspects of our world, depends on the mental health of human beings. If children are raised surrounded by love and gentle touch and play, then that is what they are able to bring forward as they grow and take their place as adults in their communities and nations.
When children are abused, emotionally, physically and/or sexually, it tears away at their sense of themselves and their value and worth as human beings. Abuse can also do much to distort how they feel and what they believe about the value of others. If “might makes right”, then relationships are affected at home, the workplace, in politics and even in our economy. We will continue to enact racism, high rates of incarceration, poverty, and domestic violence, as well as continuing the intergenerational legacy of child abuse.
Why is preventing child abuse important? It is important because our survival as a nation and as a planet depends on it. This is why I contribute to Prevent Child Abuse Vermont every April and throughout the year. If you can, please join me.
Vermont Parents’ Helpline: 1-800-CHILDREN