Thread: What about for kids?

It seems that the most helpless victims - kids living in abusive homes - have the least amount of options for defending themselves. Abusive parents generally wouldn't stick their kids in self defense classes. And, of course, fighting back physically can make the situation much, much worse. As a survivor of childhood abuse, I wonder if there is anything I could have done to make things easier for myself. De-escalation, mentioned in another thread, is one that comes to mind. Can anyone think of anything else?

Children in this situation have to speak to someone in authority about what is happening to them, as difficult as it may be. Schools should be on the lookout for the signs of abuse as well.

I wish that it was easier to educate kids about what abuse is. I think some kids don't understand that the behavior of their parents is unusual and unacceptable. I agree with Margaret too, you need to go to someone outside of the household. Telling a trusted friend who can get their parents involved might be another way to address the problem.

I think the only thing you can do is teach in school what is right and wrong and who to go to in order to tell if these things are happening. I work with a lot of foster kids and their stories are saddening.

Child abuse is such a horrible and tragic reality. I agree with Sunny that schools need to really pay attention as they are some of these kids only second chance. There should be programs in school to discuss abuse and what children can do if they are faced with those situations. It is SO sad.

I worry about what would happen to a child who tries to physically fight back. We certainly want any child to tell a teacher or some other person that they trust about any bad physical or emotional actions from their parents or guardians. The trouble is the child usually does not understand that what they are suffering is not normal. They think every child suffers the same way. Also parents become the whole world to a child and they are often afraid that they will lose their parents love if they report any abuse.

This is a difficult and emotive issue and I have personal experience of being in such a situation. It was made worse because my mother was unaware of how my father treated me and I was such a rebellious child that I told everyone that my bruises were from fighting at school. I survived because I am hard but I know some who didn't fare so well.

Schools and authority figures need to make sure children know it's really okay for them to say something if they are being abused. I think there should be an abusive hotline for kids that would allow them to report abuse and then allow for some sort of watch to be placed on the home.

Sometimes kids aren't going to come out and say what is going on. They need to be asked and even then they are likely to deny it in order to protect their abusers.

Kids are not going to be able to fight off a much larger, older person. They are also taught early to respect their elders, so they are sometimes afraid to say the wrong thing to an adult. The best thing to do, though, is to teach them how to trust their own instincts and to do the best they can to prevent themselves from being in a bad situation.