Relationships:

Home Abuse - Relationships

The Big Issue

A big issue for teenagers in everyday life is physical or mental abuse in households.  Relationships and interactions with family members at home is a huge part of who you become and how you interact in everyday life outside of the house.  Therefore, if abuse is a part in someone’s life at home, this could very strongly affect their interactions and relationships with friends, teachers, coaches, elders, etc.   This can effect teens in extreme ways including depression, aggression, separation anxiety, impaired mental development, withdrawal, anti-social persona, fatal injuries, academic achievement, and so many more serious conditions.

How Many?

Every year, there are about 3.3 million abuse referrals received by the CPS agencies or the public social service.  In addition to these referrals, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention receive over 3 million reports every year as well.  This shows that between these agencies, there are over 12 referrals every minute.  As for abuse percentages within different races, 49.7% of teens who were maltreated were white, 23.1 were African American, and 17.4% were Hispanic.  American Indians and Alaska Natives accounted for 1.2 % of the total victims, and Asian- Pacific Islanders accounted for less than 1% of the victims, according to NCANDS.   

Recources

These organizations believe that preventing abuse in households could be easy.  Start reporting cases to a trustworthy program, build relationships with teens who seem to be suffering, use community culture and involvement to make teens who are suffering from abuse feel welcome and at home, create environments that are safe, stable, and nurturing to teens, and finally, provide economic and educational help to families in need.  If you know about an abuse case, report it to one of these resources: Safe Horizon (http://www.safehorizon.org/index/what-we-do-2/child-abuse--incest-55/child-abuse-statistics--facts-304.html) , Center for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childmaltreatment/), American Humane Association (http://www.americanhumane.org/children/stop-child-abuse/fact-sheets/child-abuse-and-neglect-statistics.html), and The Department for Children and Parents.  

Sources:

-Safe Horizon. "Child Abuse: Statistics & Facts." Safe Horizon ::. Safe Horizon, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.

-Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "Child Maltreatment Prevention." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23 Jan. 2014. Web. 01 Feb. 2014.

-American Humane Association. "Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics." Child Abuse Statistics – Get the Facts of Child Abuse and Neglect. American Humane Association, 2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.