Economic woes may lead to child abuse, neglect

If job losses and bank failures aren’t enough, child advocates say a souring economy may also lead to increased incidents of child abuse and neglect.

Economic hardships and mental stress have caused many parents to lose patience with their children which can lead to abuse, said Concetta Crawford, program coordinator for Keeping Pee Dee Kids Safe.

“It is on the increase. There’s a lot of parents who are dealing with a lot of stress and with the economy getting worse, then the stress increases,” Crawford said. “If the parents don’t find an effective way to deal with their stress, then it impacts their everyday parenting.”

To cope, advocates suggest parents take a little personal time each day to read, listen to soothing music or meditate.

“If you can get away from the situation, maybe get someone to keep the kids, that would be better,” Crawford said. “Dealing with kids and having all that stress, sometimes you need to get away from the situation for a minute.”

If parents do find themselves getting angry, they should take several deep breaths and count to 10 before reacting, she said.

“I don’t know if people realize that just taking deep breaths will calm them down a little bit,” Crawford said. “We just overreact to things. If we just take a deep breath and calm ourselves down, we can get a better perspective on things.”

A short fuse isn’t always the problem that leads to a child being harmed, she said. Life stressors such as unemployment, loss of savings, vehicle repossession and home foreclosure have left some parents unable to properly care for their children.

“We see more neglect than abuse,” Crawford said. “With parents losing their jobs, they aren’t taking their kids to the doctor or they may be doing without (electricity), water and those kinds of essential things that children need.”

Rural areas of the state with unemployment rates at or near 20 percent, such as Marion and Marlboro counties, aren’t necessarily hotbeds for economy-driven abuse and neglect, she said.

Child abuse doesn’t just happen in rural or urban areas, nor is it limited to a specific demographic group, Crawford said.

“This economy has impacted a lot of people in rural (areas) or in the suburbs,” she said. “Income, race — it doesn’t matter — and they are expecting it to get worse.”

There are many resources available for families experiencing hardships or other difficulties.

Keeping Pee Dee Kids Safe at Home is a public awareness project of Prevent Child Abuse Pee Dee, a program of the Pee Dee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Assault, which is a United Way agency.

Keeping Pee Dee Kids Safe at Home aims to educate residents about the prevention of the maltreatment of children age 3 and younger.

The Pee Dee Coalition can be reached any time at (843) 669-4600 or (800) 273-1820. The ChildHelp Pee Dee 24-hour helpline can be reached by calling (866) 867-9857.

Prevent Child Abuse Pee Dee offers these tips to help deal with family stress and prevent child abuse and neglect:

• Set aside a little personal time each day to read, meditate or engage in other soothing activities.

• Keep a sense of humor, even when the unexpected happens and things don’t go as planned.

• Ease tension by showing affection.

• Support family by scheduling time for laughter and physical activity — both are free.

• Avoid blaming others.

• Control anger by taking deep breaths and counting to 10.