Thank you for having the courage to talk openly about child abuse and neglect in our community “(Talk about what’s too terrible to talk about,” Dec. 2). The circumstances surrounding the death of this young boy are certainly heartbreaking, and as a community, we need to respond—not only by scrutinizing the court proceedings and asking the hard questions but also by taking responsibility for educating ourselves. Prevention is only possible if we know how to recognize child abuse and neglect and if we each make the effort to find out what we can do about it.
You are right in thinking that there are many people in our community who dedicate themselves to standing up for children. The members of the Santa Barbara Child Abuse Prevention Council represent a wide array of agencies, community residents, and parents who come together to do just that. As the chair of this council, I see first-hand the many ways we are working together to help strengthen families and protect children every day.
Our instinctive response to the extremely tragic cases that end in the death of a child is to turn away in shock from the perpetrators of these inexcusable crimes. However, after our emotions pass, we often wonder
if there is something that can be done to prevent such a case from ever occurring again. If we take a step back and look at the bigger picture, we quickly learn that the majority of abused children across our county, state, and nation suffer from neglect, defined as the failure of a parent or other person with responsibility for the child to provide needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision such that the child’s health, safety, and well-being are threatened with harm.
While it may seem less dramatic, the impact of neglect on children can be equally tragic or even fatal, especially if the children are infants or are victims of chronic neglect. Most parents or caregivers who place children in harm’s way struggle themselves with issues such as substance abuse, mental illness, depression, or isolation. Research shows that by providing support to struggling families, child abuse and neglect can be prevented. All of us can do something to help—starting today. Reaching out to a family, donating food to the food bank, volunteering in a child care center, advocating for safe parks in your neighborhood, offering a ride to a family without a car: All these actions add up to safe and caring communities that protect their children.
Thank you for starting the conversation! Please continue writing about child abuse and neglect. All of us will benefit.
The Santa Barbara County Child Abuse Prevention Council welcomes any interested community members. To find out more, please visit our website at PreventChildAbuseSB.org
This article appears in Dec 16-23, 2010.