 • Introduction One of the leading causes of death among pre-adolescents in the United States today is not a physical illness. It’s an emotional and moral one: child abuse. It is estimated that five to six million children are abused or neglected by their parents each year and thousands more cases go unreported. Experts believe that the incidence of child abuse has been increasing at an annual rate between 15 and 20 percent. Victims of child abuse suffer physical and emotional deprivation. But they are also deprived of something else…a lost childhood that no amount of therapy or counseling can ever replace. The resulting psychological damage affects not only childhood but adulthood as well—with the former victim often becoming the perpetrator in yet another generational cycle of abuse and neglect. One way of breaking this cycle is by educating our young people about the causes of child abuse and the methods now used to prevent it. To that end, this four-part program, Child Abuse and Neglect: The Hidden Hurt, has been developed. The program begins by identifying both the victims and the abusers, and clearly defines the extent of the problem. Different kinds of child abuse, including physical and emotional neglect and abuse, are discussed. Part Two explores an important means of breaking the vicious cycle of abuse: preparing young people to become informed, caring parents. This part of the program also identifies four factors that can make even loving parents abusive: stress, isolation, an inability to cope with stress and a failure to understand what children can and cannot do. Part Three presents a series of dramatic vignettes in which young adults talk about abusive home situations. And in the last part of the program, a variety of options for combating the problem are presented—ranging from the intervention of concerned relatives or friends, to more formal intervention by state or federal authorities. The work of Parents Anonymous, a self-help group founded by a former child abuser, is also described. Discussion questions are provided to underscore key concepts in each part of the program. The related activities will enable students to research and discuss areas of particular interest. Suggest that students refer to the bibliography at the end of this guide whenever necessary. Note: Bear in mind that the subject of this program may well strike a responsive chord in some of your students—who themselves could be victims of child abuse or neglect. While you should encourage pupils to participate in the class discussion whenever possible, be sensitive to those who seem to be avoiding certain topics. Encourage any student who wants additional help with a personal problem to speak to the school psychologist or counselor. • Program Objectives This program is designed to: --Define the problem of child abuse. --Identify common characteristics of abusers. --Explore key factors that can contribute to parents’ abusive behavior. --Examine different kinds of neglect and abuse. --Describe ways to protect abused children, and to help parents break this behavior pattern. --Identify the warning signs of abuse and neglect. --Encourage victims of abuse to seek help. • Summary of Contents Part One --Defines child abuse and neglect. --Identifies different kinds of child abuse: physical and sexual abuse, physical neglect, and psychological or emotional abuse and neglect. --Discusses child abuse as a well-concealed problem, with many abusive parents ignorant of the effects of their behavior. --Describes child abuse as a cyclical problem that cuts across ever social stratum. • Part Two --Examines how society’s traditional refusal to interfere in “family matters” perpetuates child abuse and neglect. --Explores recent attitudinal changes that encourage the reporting of child abuse. --Discusses ways of combating child abuse—including preparing adolescents to be better parents, educating parents and teens in child development, and distinguishing between discipline and abuse. --Defines factors contributing to child abuse, including stress and poverty. --Explores four general characteristics of abusive parents: being abused as children themselves, being isolated from adults who could defuse domestic tension, being unable to handle stress and being unable to understand what children can and cannot do. • Part Three --Emphasizes that children are not to blame if their parents are abusing them—or their siblings. --Presents several dramatizations of typical, abusive home situations and encourages viewers to understand what is involved in each case. • Part Four --Identifies the different kinds of help available to abusive parents—from the informal intervention of a relative, to therapy and official compliance with state and federal laws. --Discusses Parents Anonymous, a self-help group for abusive parents. --Explores methods of preventing child abuse, such as educational programs in family life and child development. Although the information in this program is factual, and the situations depicted in it are realistic, this program is in no way intended to suggest that the people appearing in are connected either directly or indirectly with the issue or fact of child abuse. • Related Activities 1. Have students prepare a chart showing the extent of child abuse in the United States as compared to several European and Asian countries. What country has the highest rate of child abuse? Have students speculate why this might be so. 2. Ask a psychologist, social worker or other health care professional to visit the class. (Alternatively, arrange for the group to visit a community health care facility that counsels victims of child abuse.) Have the speakers address the class about the extent of the child abuse problem in the community, its cause and cures. Later, have students research what facilities are available in the community for both victims and perpetrators of child abuse. As a class project, have the group make suggestions on how the system for handling this problem could be improved. 3. Have students compile an annotated bibliography of books and magazine articles about child abuse that could be read by teachers, parents and children. Start a class or school “library” of materials on child abuse and neglect. (Articles, newspaper clippings, interviews, audiovisual materials, etc.) 4. Have students research 19th and 20th century child labor laws. Discuss how—and why—children were exploited in the work place. 5. Have students meet with a lawyer from the public defender’s office, the ACLU or some other legal organization to discuss the legal rights of children in your community and state. After the lecture, organize a class discussion of ways to improve children’s legal status in the community. Have students draft a document outlining basic human rights for children; include those things your students feel children have a right to expect from parents. 6. Divide the class into groups and have them role-play situations similar to those below. Discuss each vignette with the group, encouraging students to suggest constructive resolutions to these domestic tensions and conflicts. • A single mother has just come home from working the late shift in a factory. Her children (aged four and six) have been alone all evening and have overturned their dinner plates on the kitchen floor. Now they are fighting. • Ben, a 40-year-old lawyer, is trying to finish the research for a court case that is being tried this morning. His old son, 13, is blaring the stereo in his bedroom. • A young girl confides to her older brother that their stepfather sexually molested her. • A young man is confronting his older brother with the knowledge that he is physically abusing his two children. 7. Have students make up their own curriculum for an educational program in family life and child development, outlining the courses that would be taught. Visit a nursery or day care center where students can see young children in different stages of development. Have the day care center director talk to your students about children’s needs, abilities and growth. 8. Conduct a mock court session, hearing a case on child abuse. Alternatively, try to obtain a transcript of an actual court case involving abuse or neglect. Do your students agree with the judge’s decision? How would they have found the defendant? 9. Divide the class into two teams and ask them to debate the following question: after their first conviction, child abusers should lose custody of their children permanently. Ask the remaining students to research the issue so they can be prepared to question the debaters. • Questions for Discussion and Review Part One 1. What are some of the reasons child abuse and neglect are so difficult to detect and prevent? Why do you think abusive parents are often unaware that their actions are harmful to their children? Why else might they not try to get help? 2. How would you define the physical abuse of children? How would you distinguish this from physical neglect? 3. What are the characteristics of psychological or emotional abuse? How can this kind of abuse affect a child? 4. Why do you think certain children have positive self-images and others do not? 5. Why do you think that children who were abused or neglected are more likely to become child abusers and neglecters themselves? 6. Is child abuse restricted to any particular segment of society? Why or why not? Part Two 1. According to this program, we ten to regard the disciplining of a child as entirely the parents’ business. Do you think this is right? 2. Do you believe children have rights? If so, how would you define those rights? What rights have children had historically—especially in the work place? 3. Compare the way most people reacted to evidence of child abuse twenty years ago and the way they are responding today. 4. What is an important first step in breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect? Explain your answer. 5. How can we prepare young people to become better parents? 6. Explain the difference between harsh punishment and effective discipline. Do you think parents should ever use physical punishment in disciplining their children? 7. Why do parents often take out feelings of stress on their children? What factors can cause stress and tension in a household? Part Three 1. What would you tell a child who is being abused or neglected by his or her parent? What would you tell a child who is witnessing such abusive behavior? 2. Why does a child in an abusive situation not want to fight back? 3. Think about the home situation described by the young woman who used to watch her father beat her mother every week. How would you have felt in her place? What would you have done in the same situation? 4. Why couldn’t the teenage boy (who tried to cut the grass for his father) get along with his father? 5. Think about the last dramatization in this segment. What could the older brother do to help his sister? Is this an instance in which the abuser should be removed from the household? Why did the children’s mother ignore what was happening? 6. Have you ever known anyone in a situation similar to one of those described in this part of the program? Did you offer that person any advice? What advice would you offer that person now? Part Four 1. What are some informal ways of helping parents to stop their abusive behavior? What are some more official ways of accomplishing this? 2. What are some of the long-term effects of sexual abuse for a child? What can be done to help heal all the parties involved in such a traumatic situation? 3. Which cases of child abuse require the physical separation of abuser and victim? In which cases can the family stay intact? Do you think this is a good idea? Explain your answer. 4. Summarize the various methods of dealing with child abuse. 5. What action would you take if someone you knew was abusing his or her child? How would you respond if this person told you the situation was “none of your business”? |
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