Did you know that there is a difference between child abuse and child neglect, Child abuse is mistreatment of a child under the age of 18 by a parent, caretaker, someone living in their home, or someone who works around or with children.  Child neglect is failure of caretakers to provide adequate emotional and physical care for a child.  Did you know that parents not having their child finish their antibiotic could be seen as a form of child neglect.

There are 3 different types of abuse

Physical

Sexual 

Emotional

According to the American Humane Association:

Ways to tell if a child has been physically abused

*While injuries can occur accidentally when a child is at play, physical abuse should be suspected if the explanations do not fit the injury or if a pattern of frequency is apparent. The presence of many injuries in various stages of healing makes it obvious that the injuries did not all occur as a result of one accident.

Physical indicators of abuse include bruises; lacerations; swollen areas; and marks on the child’s face, head, back, chest, genital area, buttocks or thighs. Wounds like human bite marks, cigarette burns, broken bones, puncture marks or missing hair may indicate abuse.

A child’s behavior might also signal that something is wrong. Victims of physical abuse may display withdrawn or aggressive behavioral extremes, complain of soreness or uncomfortable movement, wear clothing that is inappropriate for the weather, express discomfort with physical contact or become chronic runaways.

Ways to tell if a child has been Sexually Abused

*Children who are sexually abused may exhibit behavioral changes, based on their age.

Children up to age 3 may exhibit:

• Fear or excessive crying
• Vomiting
• Feeding problems
• Bowel problems
• Sleep disturbances
• Failure to thrive

Children ages 2 to 9 may exhibit:

• Fear of particular people, places or activities
• Regression to earlier behaviors such as bed wetting or stranger anxiety
• Victimization of others
• Excessive masturbation
• Feelings of shame or guilt
• Nightmares or sleep disturbances
• Withdrawal from family or friends
• Fear of attack recurring
• Eating disturbances

Symptoms of sexual abuse in older children and adolescents include:

• Depression
• Nightmares or sleep disturbances
• Poor school performance
• Promiscuity
• Substance abuse
• Aggression
• Running away from home
• Fear of attack recurring
• Eating disturbances
• Early pregnancy or marriage
• Suicidal gestures
• Anger about being forced into situation beyond one’s control
• Pseudo-mature behaviors

Ways to tell if a child has been emotionally abused

*Emotional abuse of a child is commonly defined as a pattern of behavior by parents or caregivers that can seriously interfere with a child’s cognitive, emotional, psychological or social development. Emotional abuse of a child — also referred to as psychological maltreatment — can include:

• Ignoring. Either physically or psychologically, the parent or caregiver is not present to respond to the child. He or she may not look at the child and may not call the child by name.
• Rejecting. This is an active refusal to respond to a child’s needs (e.g., refusing to touch a child, denying the needs of a child, ridiculing a child).
• Isolating. The parent or caregiver consistently prevents the child from having normal social interactions with peers, family members and adults. This also may include confining the child or limiting the child’s freedom of movement.
• Exploiting or corrupting. In this kind of abuse, a child is taught, encouraged or forced to develop inappropriate or illegal behaviors. It may involve self-destructive or antisocial acts of the parent or caregiver, such as teaching a child how to steal or forcing a child into prostitution.
• Verbally assaulting. This involves constantly belittling, shaming, ridiculing or verbally threatening the child.
• Terrorizing. Here, the parent or caregiver threatens or bullies the child and creates a climate of fear for the child. Terrorizing can include placing the child or the child’s loved one (such as a sibling, pet or toy) in a dangerous or chaotic situation, or placing rigid or unrealistic expectations on the child with threats of harm if they are not met.
• Neglecting the child. This abuse may include educational neglect, where a parent or caregiver fails or refuses to provide the child with necessary educational services; mental health neglect, where the parent or caregiver denies or ignores a child’s need for treatment for psychological problems; or medical neglect, where a parent or caregiver denies or ignores a child’s need for treatment for medical problems.

Those are just a few ways to be able to recognize abuse, but when you recognize it, DONT BE AFRAID to REPORT IT!

Although there are certain professions that have state law mandates to report reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect, EVERYONE CAN REPORT!

You can report The Child Abuse Hotline, the number is 1-800-25-ABUSE and it's located in Springfield Illinois.

The questions you will be asked when you report are simple..

1. Perpetrators name, address, and relationship to child 

2. Date, time, nature, and extent of the abuse or neglect

3. Description of how you learned about the injuries or neglect

4. Any actions taken to help the child

*** Calls can be made ANONYMOUS!!!!!!! ***

Of all reported cases of maltreatment 

60% is neglect

20% is abuse

10% sexual abuse

7% emotional maltreatment

Just one call can help out with these statistics!! Anyone can make the call and change the life of an abused child.

Heres a video that just explains the extent of how bad child abuse can get… might need some Kleenex

~* Infant reflexes ~*

Have you ever noticed how much fun babies are, especially when they are infants.  Not only are they super adorable, and just a  joy to be around, but they have the ability to do so many reflexes in the infant stage. 


Check out my videos also, they are sooo cute!  


There is a reflex called blinking, this is when the child sees a flash of light or a puff of air, and their immediate response is to close both eyes.

The next reflex is the Babinski reflex, this is one you stroke the bottom of an infants foot and the infant in turn turns their foot out and fans out their toes, 

Another adorable reflex that infants can do is called rooting, this is when the infants cheek is stroked or their side of their mouth is touched, and they respond by turning their head, open their mouth and begin sucking.
                                    
LOOK AT HOW CUTE THIS VIDEO IS!!

Stepping reflex is actually one of the super cool ones, this is when the infant is held above the surface and their feet is lowered to touch surface, they will begin to move their feet as if to walk. Its INCREDIBLE!

Swimming reflex is another awesome one, this just seems unreal to me that they have the ability to do this given how old they are and how unexperienced they are.  Swimming reflex is done when you put the infant face down in water, and they make coordinating swimming movements as their response.  It is REMARKABLE!!

One more reflex is the tonic neck reflex, this is when the infant is placed on their back, and they will form a fist with hands and make a fencers pose.  Look at this cutie doing his fencing pose!














Remember the next time your around an infant to try and get them to do these reflexes, because they are SO ADORABLE!!! 


hope you enjoyed this post :) Thanks for reading/ watching :)

Is it Nature or Nurture??

Ever since I was younger I have always been so interested in Child Development.  It all started when I originally started off thinking about being a grade school teacher.  I have had many previous jobs dealing with children such as a lifeguard, a camp counselor, and a swim instructor for little children.  It always amazed me how when parents would come and pick their kids up, I could almost always tell what kid went to what parents based on the parent and child temperament.  It sounds so cliche but it really is "like father, like son" and "like mother, like daughter".  Parents can shape a child's development from before they are even out of the womb.  According to Parenting magazine, if a child hears music while inside the womb, they will recognize it when they are born.

Parents have so many responsibilities when it comes to raising healthy children but they need to start before the child is even born.  Mothers who are looking to get pregnant should go on a healthy diet for one year prior to even trying to get pregnant.  They when they are pregnant they should take their prenatal vitamins, go for their checkups, watch what they eat, eat a lot of fruits and veggies, and keep up minimal exercise.  The one thing that I recently learned about in my child development class is when a mom is breastfeeding, she should not eat spicy foods or it will really irritate the baby.  I NEVER KNEW THAT! Did you??

Child development is also so interesting to me mainly because it is such a crucial part of anyones development.  The love that you get when you are younger will impact you when you are older.  Even the things you see as a young child will stick in your mind and you will remember it when you are older.  The way your parents act towards you and the love and attention they show you will affect how you interact with others when you are older.

Now that I have given a little bit of background on why I chose this topic, I want to know what you guys think about a particular debate that has been going on for years, the nature/ nurture debate.  For those of you who do not know what this debate is about, its basically a debate to decide whether a child is developed through nature which is through the child genetics or nurture which is through the childs environment and upbringing.

I think that a child's development is formed by a child's upbringing and the environment in which they are raised.  Although I believe that you do inherit some personality traits from your parents, I think the main thing is Nurture.

What do you guys think?