Child abuse in India
Child abuse is considered a serious matter in developed countries up to the extent that even parents are not allowed mistreating their children or misbehaving with them. We have for instance the case of an Indian couple who were sentenced to jail term just because they talked harshly with their seven years old son. This may sound strange to Indian parents that they have no right to keep their children in control or treat them as per their own choice to handle them the way they like. In most developed countries, there are very strict rules and they appoint inspectors to keep a watch on such atrocities by parents, schools or other sections of their societies.
Child abuse is fast becoming a serious issue in our country therefore our government is seriously considering to take strict steps on the recommendations of private organizations and non government organizations to stop these at parents’ level, societies and schools. Government is thinking seriously about it but you have your responsibility too as parents to look into the matter and see to it that your child does not become a victim of this social evil. You shall have to consider a few points seriously to make sure that your child doesn’t fall prey to this social problem increasing in different fields of our society.
Make your child feel special
Parents would have to make their children feel that children have their importance and parent do care for them, they love them unconditionally. Parents should spend quality time with their children and develop special bonding with them to make them confident enough so that they do share every problem or happiness with parents without slightest of hesitation. Parents should keep in touch as much with their wards to make them confident and they can always take community leaders and schools in their confidence to make this cause easier.
Parents should get involved
What I suggest is to get involved in such programs where they are making efforts to work against child abuse. Do not wait for your child to become a victim of such an activity before you find a point of concern. You shall have to take initiative to curb such a cruel activity by promoting and taking active part in awareness programs run at different levels by societies, community, and even in nearby villages. Trust me every bit counts and your efforts would certainly help the cause of atrocities taking place against children, after all your own child may be one of the victims of such an activity.
You should take immediate action
Just in case your own child becomes a victim of child abuse at any level, you should not wait for any help from outside but take instant step and report the matter to the nearest police station and NGO for children health organizations active in your area. In fact, every community should provide information regarding protective factors on child abuse to make parents better prepared against such problems those are coming up on regular intervals recently. We need to provide immediate support to such programs without further delay. We should keep working on this topic to create as much awareness for the sake of our future generation because child abuse is one of the worst experiences a child can go through.
Child abuse has long-term effects on children
Child abuse has bad effects on a tender mind of a child and should not be encourages in any way. You should immediately act in case your child faces any such activity. You can follow these steps to in case any thing goes wrong with your child-
Inform proper authorities without making any delay or trying to hide the incident
- Try to take child into confidence and listen to him carefully
- Make sure that your child understands you well and you trust your child fully
- Involve local police and NGO to reach to the root of the problem properly
- Take care of injuries and explanations however unconvincing, the child some times finds it hard to explain every thing properly while in shocked stage
- Keep a close eye on your child because in such cases children find it hard to cope with the situation and behave strangely. Either they become too aggressive or loner in some cases.
- Keep an eye on your child because you can trace of signs as your child would avoid facing abuser or accompany him in case he is not yet identified.
- The abused child shows sign in different ways and loss of weight is one such sign. The weight of a child who has been victimized in any way looses weight abruptly and does not feel like eating meals regularly.
- Grades of child in school tests and attendance are important factors and indicative of any abuses if any
- Children in such cases become careless and do not show any interest in proper dresses etc, here comes your role to play to keep your child in proper mental condition
- Children try to avoid going out because they become victim of inferiority complex, try to rebuild the confidence level of your child to prepare him come out of his bad experiences.
Child who faces it should get special care
Children who go through bad experiences should try to make friends and keep busy with them. They should be encouraged to stay positive and confident. Children who face such abuses often find bullies in schools and playgrounds, prepare them to face them courageously. Incase you find that your child is not responding well, you should not hesitate to go for expert advice and the best ways those make your child feel comfortable. Keep your child busy in different activities like give him books those help him overcome his blues.
Finally- Take special care of your child in case of sexual abuse
In case your child has gone through a bad experience this is your duty to take best care of him because the child abuse can make a bad impact on his mental and physical development. The child may go into long time depression and a victim of health problems. A child can even go for drug addiction, cigarette and liquor in case of sexual abuse therefore parents need to be especially careful.