AMARILLO, TX (KFDA) – An enhance in teenage pregnancies might be a factor in the rise in kid abuse cases in the Texas Panhandle, a number that’s currently seeing an enhance from 2015.
One of the a lot of common misconceptions bordering kid abuse is that it’s just physical, yet regional experts say it’s more compared to that.
“kid abuse truly encompasses a variety of points and it can easily be every little thing from being verbally abusive to a child, to being physically abusive, to being emotionally abusive, also as neglectful to a child,” said Ruth Whitehead, a supervisor for the Nurse Family Partnership Routine at Texas Tech University Healthiness Science Center. “One thing is that exploiting a kid can easily additionally be abusive, so it covers a truly broad range of anything that can easily be injurious to a kid the two physically, mentally, emotionally, also as environmentally.”
The Texas Panhandle has actually greater kid abuse rates compared to the state.
“We’re truly method ahead of just what the state price is last year [2015] our price per thousand youngsters was about 12.6 compared to the state price of 9.1, so there is something going on right here in the Panhandle of Texas that’s causing a lot more kid abuse,” said Don Nicholson, Steering Committee for the 16th Annual kid Abuse Prevention Conference.
Nicholson feels the enhance in teenage pregnancy is Section of that cause, especially in Potter County.
“We have actually babies having babies and those youngsters are not ready to come to be parents, they aren’t since their parents weren’t ready to be parents or they wouldn’t be a teen mom at this time,” Nicholson said. “I’m not talking 18, 19 — I’m talking 15, 16, and 14-years-old. Those are the places that we probably consider the a lot of in the difference between Potter and say Randall Counties.”
While Whitehead agrees teen pregnancy is a factor contributing to an enhance in abuse rates she feels not all of teenagers and very first time parents will certainly be abusive.
“It’s not a direct link,” Whitehead said. “It doesn’t mean that every teenager that gets pregnant is going be an abusive moms and dad yet we understand that anytime any sort of of us concerning of our age or experience, a very first time pregnancy and maybe are surprised by that pregnancy that it’s going to be quite stressful to us and it’s going to trigger a serious upheaval in our life.”
Whitehead said teenage parents are a lot more most likely to be abusive since they have actually much less experience and fewer resources offered to them.
“Teen pregnancy, as a young moms and dad you merely generally have actually fewer resources and maybe perhaps you haven’t made every one of the skills to have the ability to take care of life stresses also as sometimes it’s difficult to consider just what today’s action is going to do for the future,” Whitehead said. “just what today’s action is going to do for the future, whether it’s your very own future or perhaps the future of the kid that you’re caring for and so life can easily get hold of truly challenging. So, that challenge is we should be there to support young parents that are having babies for the very first time.”
Most of the kid abuses cases taking position in the Panhandle do not involve strangers.
“We discover that the overwhelming majority of abuse cases are individuals that the kid knows that they’ve grown up with, they might be a considerable other, relative, girlfriend, or boyfriend of the parent,” Nicholson said. “So, it’s not the ‘stranger danger’ that is causing a great deal of our kid abuse it’s those individuals they know.”
Experts believe the most effective method to curb kid abuse is to inform the public regarding preventing kid abuse and encouraging them to speak up once they see something is wrong.
“Be aware and report, also if you see something that’s not pretty right along with a moms and dad or a grownup along with a kid or one more kid along with a kid after that allow someone understand regarding it,” Nicholson said. “It’s constantly much better to be safe compared to sorry.”
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