Child abuse signs are becoming commonly noticeable in today’s society. Nearly 900,000 children are neglected or abused each year. That is one child abused every 36 seconds. The signs of abuse are not just mark or bruises on a child’s body but can also be identified by the way a child portrays themselves. With 8,500 children coming in and out of our doors since 1970, child abuse in South Carolina is something we can not ignore. The following examples will help identify signs of child abuse or neglect.

• Sudden Change in Behavior
• Lack of concentration
• School performance
• Timid or Withdrawn
• A Sudden Change in Personality
• Lack of supervision
• Does not want to go home

If you are in need of Emergency Crisis Intervention with your child, please call 911, 1-800-4-A-CHILD, or 1-855-4-A-PARENT.  To learn more about child abuse, reporting child abuse, or child abuse prevention, click here.

Truth About Abuse:

• 84% of prison inmates were abused as children
• One in three girls and one in five boys are sexually abused by an adult at some time during childhood. (Most sexual abusers are someone in the family or someone the child knows, not the proverbial stranger with a lollipop.)
• Families with four or more children have higher rates of abuse and neglect, especially if their living conditions are crowded or they live in isolated areas.
• More than 80% of abusers are a parent or someone close to a child. Child abuse is far more likely to occur in the child’s home than in a day care center.
• One in thirteen kids with a parent on drugs is physically abused regularly. (Drug and alcohol abuse in the family makes child abuse about twice as likely.)
• One in ten babies born today are born to mothers who are abusing drugs. Drinking and smoking heavily during pregnancy also endangers the health of unborn children.

Child Neglect Is Defined As:

• the failure of a person responsible for a child’s care and upbringing to safeguard the child’s emotional and physical health and general well-being
• acts of commission, where harm to a child may or may not be the intended consequence
• a serious form of maltreatment
• the persistent failure to meet an individual’s basic physical and/or psychological needs resulting in serious impairment of heath and/or development.

Report Any Type Of Abuse!

Call local authorities to report child abuse. Another contact for child abuse is The South Carolina Department of Social Services. Their mission is to protect children who cannot protect themselves. They also assist those who need food and financial assistance. They have 46 offices within the state of South Carolina.

Click HERE to learn more about the SC Department of Social Services.