April is the month for alot of celebrations. Spring is here, the Easter Bunny is coming and school is rapidly coming to a close. One other celebration is the Prevention of Child Abuse. Wait a minute, a celebration you ask? This is the time of year when we as child welfare workers celebrate the opportunity to tell people about child abuse and how to prevent it. Typically we see an influx of children enter our system at this time of year and feel compeled to alleviate this problem by warning parents. So I'd like to explain the types of abuse we typically see. Before I do that let me tell you that Clay county is ranked as one of the counties at most risk for Child Abuse with 31 of every 1000 children abused. This is a rate much higher than most other counties.

There are four types of abuse.

1. Physical Abuse - Seriously hurting a child. Parents should never discipline their children when they are angry. This can and does result in serious injury to the child. Discipline should be done out of love and not anger.

2. Sexual Abuse - This is one of the most advertised and well known types of abuse. I don't think an explanation is necessary, other than to say that adults should never improperly touch a child.

3. Neglect - Not attending to the basic needs of a child. This is expressed in many ways. Things as obvious as not taking a child to the doctor or dentist, or not feeding, clothing or housing a child in clean and adequate conditions.

4. Emotional Abuse - This is the least known and recognized form of abuse, yet one of the most devastating types. This form of abuse comes from adults who belittle, reject, ignore and terrorize children. We as their care givers should always give encouraging words, as they trust our judgement and believe what we say to them.

All of these types of abuse have life long consequences. Please help us end the cycle, by being mindful parents. Recognize what you do and don't do for your children will haunt them for their entire lives.