Letter to the editor

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month
Every year, communities across the nation proclaim April as “Child Abuse Awareness Month.” Typically, well meaning child abuse organizations write articles to educate people on parenting skills. They claim that times are stressful and it’s normal when children get on our nerves. They write, ”Don’t throw your child in the air; don’t shake your baby; if you get angry, call someone until you cool down; don’t take it out on your child; and the list goes on and on and on.

This rhetoric is always the same. Still, we see an increase in child abuse each year. Why? Because child abuse is seldom treated as the crime it really is. Let’s face it, people who hurt children are committing a crime. Pure and simple. Look at it this way. Would you be sympathetic if I was feeling overwhelmed and having a bad day and struck you across the face or worse yet, broke your arm or leg, or sexually assaulted you? What if I caused traumatic injury to your head or abdomen? What if you had to be hospitalized? Or suffered blindness or brain injury? You’d probably have me arrested for a felony. It is certain that I would go to jail. Why is it different when we commit such acts upon our children? Simply put, because we are the parents, it is not viewed as a crime when we injure our children. We are simply stressed out. All we need is some counseling or maybe a little anger management.

State reporting agencies and child abuse organizations report that 3 million children are abused every year and approximately 3-4 children die each day in this country, and those numbers are on the rise. Most victims are infants and toddlers under the age of 4. Children are our most vulnerable citizens and they cannot protect themselves. All they can do is lay there and “take it.”

Awareness is not enough anymore. Three million abused children each year constitutes an epidemic in my book. It is time to address the issue in cold hard facts. Punishing the abuser should be our number one focus. It is naïve to believe that all abusers will change after a few sessions of counseling and anger management. Our society is paying dearly. Our children are paying dearly as well. We can no longer afford to tolerate child abuse. We will pay one way or another. Just look at the facts:


According to the U.S. National Statistics:

DIRECT COSTS OF CHILD ABUSE:

Hospitalization $6,205,395,000
Chronic Health Problems $2,987,957,400
Mental Health Care System $ 425,110,400
Child Welfare System $14,400,000,000
Law Enforcement $ 24,709,000
Judicial System $ 341,174,702
Total Direct Costs $24,384,347,302

INDIRECT COSTS OF CHILD ABUSE:

Special Education $ 223,607,830
Mental Health & Health Care $4,627,636,025
Juvenile Delinquency $8,805,291,372
Lost Productivity to Society $ 656,000,000
Adult Criminality $55,380,000,000
Total Indirect Costs $69,692,535,227

TOTAL: $94,076,882,529

When you become aware of child abuse, whether it be from reading about it in a newspaper or personally involved, it then becomes your responsibility and obligation to get involved to ensure that the child does not fall through the cracks. You can and should become part of the movement to stop child abuse and protect our most vulnerable citizens. Those who abuse children must be held accountable and responsible for their actions. Justice must be served.

If children could vote, politicians would listen. Please be the voice for our children. by contacting your local child abuse organization in your area. Ask them how you can help. They will be glad you did. Contact your local and state representatives and demand protection for our children. Your vote is very important to your legislators.

Jane LeMOND Alvarez