April is Child Abuse Prevention month. This is very important. We often think because we live in Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek or Lafayette that our children are safe. This is far from the truth. Our children are at risk like any other child.

The other common mistake we make is that we assume child abusers are strangers. This is a very big mistake we make. Most children are abused by adults that they know and trust and because the children have been taught to trust the abuser, they are afraid to say anything. They are afraid that people won't believe them or be mad at them.

Another common mistake we make is we assume abusers are adults. Quite often the abuser is another child. Often when children are abused they turn around and abuse another child. They do this to try to restore their sense of security.

Another mistake we make regarding child abuse is that we assume girls are always the victims. This is totally wrong. Boys are abused on a regular basis. However, they are afraid to say anything because they are afraid that people will call them gay. Boys are also afraid of being blamed. Because people assume boys are strong and don't get abused, boys are afraid that people will think they did not fight hard enough to stop the abuse or that they allowed it to occur because they liked it.

Another problem that occurs with abuse is that the family feels a sense of shame. They are afraid of how people will judge them as parents. Therefore, children who are abused pick up on the family cues not to say anything or the family decides not to say anything to avoid the possible shame. This fear of how the family will be judged allows abuse to continue. These are a few of the misconceptions that we have about child abuse and how our misconceptions allow abuse to continue. During this month take sometime to go on-line and research child abuse and learn the facts.

Also if you think your child has been the victim of abuse don't be embarrassed or ashamed about it. Do something to stop abuse and help your child, go get your child therapy and report the abuse. We have allowed shame and embarrassment to allow child abuse to continue for generations. Until we accept the fact that the only person to blame is the perpetrator, the longer we allow shame and embarrassed to keep our children in danger of being abused. Please watch the video at the beginning of this blog to learn more facts about abuse and what we can do to prevent it.