KARA reports on the issues of child abuse.
This article submitted by CASA volunteer Mike Tikkanen
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About half of America’s 80 million children and youth are living with much more anxiety, fear, trauma and depression than they were before the pandemic. 40 million children is a big number that will have a big impact on the communities they live in.
Locked into toxic homes with parents suffering from COVID driven isolation, restrictions, job loss & poverty and the fears this pandemic is breeding are causing domestic violence and child abuse impacting tens of millions of children.
Distance learning has removed access to mandated reporters for abused and traumatized children to find safety.
There is little doubt that there is more child abuse and domestic violence in the home today that there was one year ago.
Pre-pandemic, the use of psychotropic medications on children and youth – children as youth as one or two years old, had been severe enough for big pharma to be sued for and lose billions of dollars for selling psychotropic medications to pediatricians for use on very young children.
Pre-pandemic, about 1/3 of U.S. foster children were being forced onto these drugs and about 2/3 of the youth in the juvenile justice system had diagnosable mental illness with half of them suffering from multiple, chronic and serious issues.
Pre-pandemic our prisons and jails were full and American crime statistics have been exponentially higher than the industrialized nations we compared ourselves with post WWII.
This Star Tribune article about the increase in violent crime and explosive growth of teen car-jackings – many including vicious assaults is just a tiny example of American youth responding to the COVID pandemic. For decades, most serious and violent crime in our nation has been committed by youth and young adults.
Pre-COVID, 30% of American youth were being arrested by their 23rd birthday. Pre-COVID, over 30% of American children were being reported to child protective services by their 18th birthday (Washington University study)
Pre-COVID, the cost of crime in America has impacting all of us (if not by involvement in the court system or violence against a friend or a loved one, consider our high taxes for policing, jails and a 9 year 90% recidivism rate in American prisons).
Pandemic fear, poverty, politics & civil unrest are overwhelming our institutions and they need our support if we are to rebuild a functional citizenry that can govern itself.
Post-COVID, children having lived with increased and more severe abuse will need help healing and learning the skills they will need to succeed with their peers in school. Young families need help and our teachers need more resources, help and training to be successful teaching larger numbers of children damaged by trauma and abuse.
Our small efforts can save these children.
Communities need a Marshall Plan for investing in children and young families
if we support the people doing the work of
social work, education, public health and public safety we can make this happen.
It will just take a few minutes for you to copy this note and send it to your
State Representative or other government official.
Become a voice for children.
ALL ADULTS ARE THE PROTECTORS OF ALL CHILDREN
#childhoodtrauma #childabuse #COVIDlockdown