Group spreads word about the face of child abuse

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and one local group is spreading the word about the face of child abuse.

Prevent Child Abuse Pee Dee program director Shirley March said people often think of abused children as being only poor or with visible injuries.

“It depends on the kind of abuse,” she said. “We talk about the behavioral issues and the physical signs of abuse.

“There are four kinds of abuse: physical, sexual, emotional and verbal. Sometimes kids are withdrawn, they may know a lot more about sexual things than what they should know. They can be withdrawn or depressed.”

When those signs are combined with other issues, it can indicate the child is in an abusive relationship, March said.

“We need to learn alternative ways of disciplining children rather than spanking,” she said. “Discipline means to teach. There are other ways we can teach our children.”

Leading by example is the best way to teach children how to behave, March said.

Paddling and spanking children are commonly accepted ways of disciplining a child in the South, she said, but that doesn’t make it the right way to handle every situation.

“Paddling turns into abuse when you leave marks and scars,” she said. “Some schools still paddle as a corporal punishment, but are you comfortable allowing someone else to paddle your child?”

Disciplining a child can be as simple as being sensitive to the developing changes in a child’s life, March said.

“Knowing what to expect during different stages of development makes a difference,” she said. “A lot of times, they’re just curious. I hear parents saying the child is bad, but that’s what the child is supposed to be doing developmentally at that stage.”

Many parents think it’s OK to discipline a child based on the way they were raised, but, March said, there are other means and methods available.

“We talked a lot about awareness, and I think that most people are aware that abuse exists,” she said. “Now we need to be talking about solutions and what we can do to end child abuse.”

When the economy goes south, as it has in recent months, child abuse rates tend to rise, March said.

“That is because parents are under a lot of stress,” she said. “They’ve lost jobs and when parents are under stress, kids are going to be under stress, too.”

March said Prevent Child Abuse Pee Dee has a toll-free hotline for times when parents feel overwhelmed or unsure of what to do in a parenting situation.

“It’s for anyone who is interested in knowing how to protect children,” she said.

The group also visits schools, churches and other organizations to teach children how to be safe no matter the situation.

“Probably about 85 percent of the time when kids are abused it’s by people they know and love,” she said.

To contact the ChildHelp Pee Dee 24 Hour Toll-Free Helpline, call (866) 867-9857.

On the web

• For more information on the Pee Dee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Assault, visit www.peedeecoalition.org