How to Prevent Child Abuse

Child abuse is an issue that must be addressed by the entire community. The best way to prevent child abuse is to increase public awareness about the legal responsibility to report suspected abuse, provide education about the dynamics of abuse, understand its long term effects, and most importantly, empower and educate our own children. It is critical for parents to understand that almost 96% of children victimized by abuse know their offender; accordingly, less than 4% of children are victimized by a stranger. Both have devastating consequences. Our community must support programs who respond to the devastating problem of child abuse. This is crucial to decreasing the trauma and breaking the cycle.