Today is International Day Against Spanking.
Is Domestic Violence, Child Abuse Far From Us?
No.
Data shows that the incidence of physical abuse of children in urban China ranges from 41.2% to 67.3%.
Image source: Tu Wo Creative
In addition, violence is not just physical violence, but includes emotional or mental violence, sexual violence, and neglect.
Children who are frequently subjected to domestic violence are more likely to develop psychological problems.
Research shows that children who were abused as children, or even just witnessed domestic violence, have more prominent psychological problems in adolescence than children who did not experience it. For example, it is more likely to have low self-esteem, cowardice, and depression.
If you grow up with this emotion for a long time, it may also lead to teen suicide and self-abuse behavior.
Image source: Tu Wo Creative
Not only that, children who are frequently victims of domestic violence are more likely to use violence to solve problems.
In other words, if parents and teachers use violence to educate their children, they are giving children a “license” to use violence to solve problems.
When something goes wrong in the future, they are likely to imitate this way to deal with the unhappy things or setbacks they encounter.
In life, violence against children often goes unchecked or even undetected. This is because children are a vulnerable group, and it is difficult to make a cry for help; and many people also feel that “disciplining children” is someone else’s business. Even a lot of beatings and abuses are used in the name of “beating you for your own good”.
In order to prevent similar tragedies from repeating over and over again, we must always remind ourselves not to be the perpetrators and stop the cycle of violence.
In addition, it is also important to detect and stop domestic violence and child abuse around you in a timely manner.
The clinical database Uptodate summarizes several categories of manifestations that may suggest a child is being abused:
Slaps, straps, rope loops, and other shaped ecchymoses;
Cigarette butts, irons, shovels, and other shaped burns;
Children who can’t walk show ecchymosis, broken long bones;
Ecchymosis on trunk, ears, neck;
……
If you find the above phenomenon in a child, I hope you can take the initiative to lend a helping hand to TA and ask TA: How did you get your injury?
If you directly witness child abuse, I hope you can stop the violence or keep evidence (such as taking pictures), and ask the police for help.
Violence is violence, whether for educational purposes or abuse. Every child is an individual, not anyone’s punching bag.
April 30 is International Day Against Spanking, but we want to:
Every day is a no-spanking day.
Planning
Planner: Deanna | Producer: Feidi, Eric
Illustration: see callout | Source of cover image: Lilac Design Team