Growing
up in a violent home is one of the most terrifying and traumatic experiences a
child can go through.
It’s
an experience that a child will not forget. It’s an experience that can
affect every aspect of a child’s life, growth and their development.
Living
in a violent home can cause children not to do well in school.
There
is a definite correlation between domestic violence and child abuse. Growing up
in a violent home can set patterns for children … patterns that can cause
them to commit violence and abuse, and continue the cycle of violence and
abuse.
Children
living in violent homes are often too frightened and embarrassed to speak out.
Kids who
grow up in violent environments are more apt to have health problems, use poor
judgment, and have social and emotional issues.
They are
also more apt to become high school dropouts, substance abusers, pregnant
teens, gun users, and become juvenile and adult criminals.
Children
who suffer from abuse can become adults with a host of additional problems such
as poor self-esteem, staying in dead-end jobs or worse … not being able to
keep a job.
There
are high unemployment rates among adult abused children. They can be full of
anger, can mistrust in relationships, are more apt to be bullies, commit road
rage, and more horrific violent acts, and contribute to the high cost of our
mental health and welfare programs.
We know
that domestic violence causes serious harm to the millions of women who are
abused, yet too little attention has been paid to the harm suffered by their
children who witness domestic abuse.
Kids
who grow up in violent homes can be helped through Intervention, prevention,
and support programs. But there is much more to be done to keep them safe.
We must
educate the public, advocate for more arrests, and stronger punishments for
offenders.
America’s
children who grow up in violent homes are forgotten. By creating awareness and
educating the public, we can promote community and social responsibility –
we can stop violence and help abused children.
It’s
reported that 50 percent of the men who frequently assault their wives, also
frequently abuse their children. School-age kids who grow up in violent homes
generally exhibit a range of problem behaviors such as: depression, anxiety,
and violence towards their peers.
When a parent terrorizes another parent, their children are terrorized too!
Anger is deeply set within those children … anger that is so deep and
long-lasting that when that child reaches adulthood, the damage is already
done.
The
terrorist parent leaves his children an incredible legacy of pain and problems
-- societal and emotional problems that may never disappear.
An anonymous victim of domestic violence said:
She didn’t think she ever could have known, what an impact and witnessing
domestic violence would have on her son’s life. Her son witnessed domestic
violence continuously for the first six years of his life. His behavior became
progressively worse, especially as he began to socialize with other kids. In
kindergarten he became outraged if something did not go his way, and
on many
occasions, bit other children so hard that he drew blood. He would often slam
and break things for no apparent reason, and had constant violent temper
tantrums. It was at this time that this victim found the courage to leave the
violent relationship she had with her son’s father. However as the years
progressed, her son’s behavior escalated. He was physically aggressive
towards other students, and constantly walked out of class when teachers
confronted him with his disruptive behavior. The school alerted the mother to
the fact that her son’s behavior wasn’t normal. Although her struggle
as a victim is over, she must now stand by and watch her son struggle through
the same journey. She feels she failed to protect him. There is nothing she can
do to make it better, as her son experiences the effects of a family legacy
that has claimed many victims. She has now sought psychological assistance for
her son to deal with this long and painful legacy.
Violence and abuse have become our country’s legacy. When a parent hurts their child
– physically or emotionally, we all feel the affects.
We know that violence is learned behavior. Children learn it from their parents
and the cycle continues.
We also know that whatever is learned can be unlearned. It is up to all of us
to be educated and learn all of the signs, symptoms and what we can do to stop
children from hurting – to destroy the legacy!
