“Child Abuse Prevention Training”, this is where I spent much of October 18.

Here we discuss elder abuse, abuse of the mentally ill, and the prevention of child abuse.

We discuss signs of someone who may be abusing a child and signs to look for in children.

Our responsibility to properly report any incident, or observation, that could even hint to the possibility of child abuse is a key point.

Child abuse comes in many forms, such as physical, mental and sexual. There are also the less obvious forms of abuse, such as neglect of medical needs, hygiene and nourishment.  The statistics are appalling.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 5 children in the United States die as a result of child abuse every DAY.

Of those kids, 80% are under four years old. These statistics are fairly even for boys and girls. This happens across all socioeconomic levels, religions and ethnicities.

Nearly 80% of the abusers are the child’s parents, and in most cases they are biological parents.

If you are a victim of child abuse, a victimizer, or know someone that may be a victim place a call to the Child Abuse Prevention Hotline at 1-800-4-A -Child. Let them determine if they need to look into the matter further.

I have had to report child abuse. It was difficult to make the call because I was worried about how it would affect the family if I was wrong. I called, because I was more worried about how it would affect the child if I was right and never made the call.