Interview on How to Prevent Child Abuse with Sandra Potter - founder of DreamCatchers

Adam: I'm fortunate today to be able to interview Sandra Potter, activist and founder of DreamCatchers for Abused Children.

 

1. Hi Sandra, thank you for joining me today.

Please tell me about yourself, and what the mission of Dreamcatchers is? 

DREAMCATCHERS FOR ABUSED CHILDREN is an official non-profit 501(c)3 child abuse & neglect organization. Our mission is to educate the public on child abuse signs/symptoms, intervention, prevention, statistics, reporting, and helping victims locate the proper resources to achieve a full recovery.

How and why did it get started?

2. What are some signs of child abuse?

Child abuse is the physical, psychological or sexual maltreatment of children. While most child abuse happens in the child's home, a significant portion also occurs in organizations involving children, such as churches, schools, child care businesses, and residential schools. There are four major categories of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse and sexual abuse. There are different subcategories within each type of abuse. It's easy to identify some forms of child abuse, but difficult for other forms. The fact that a child experienced harm doesn't necessarily reveal abuse. Child abuse is an action or inaction that harms a child. The person responsible should have known their action or inaction was likely to cause harm. Well, that's a very legalistic point of view. Let me give you another one. Child abuse, from the standpoint of the victim, is anything that harms you!!

The latest NIS-4 study on child abuse from Congress indicates that teachers and the school system are the ones who report the most incidence of child abuse.

How does someone know if a child is really being abused?

Every parent's fear is that their child will be abused. There are four different types of abuse: Neglect, Emotional, Physical and Sexual. There are common physical and behavioral signs that may indicate any of these types of abuse. The presence of one of these signs does not necessarily mean abuse or neglect. When I am assessing for likelihood of abuse, I look for clusters of the signs. If I see many of the signs together, I begin to suspect abuse and I report to a Government body (Police or Welfare) who can investigate and protect the child.  Although every family's circumstances are different, there are a few risk indicators that may suggest a higher probability of child abuse. Just because the risk indicators are present, it does not mean that children will be harmed. The indicators are used as a measure of assessing risk, not actual abuse.

3. It seems like physical abuse (e.g., unexplained bruises/cuts) would be obvious. But what about recognizing the signs of emotional and/or verbal abuse? 

Emotional abuse is defined as a pattern of behavior by parents or caregivers that can seriously interfere with a child’s cognitive, emotional, psychological or social development. Emotional abuse can include:

• Ignoring. Either physically or psychologically, the parent or caregiver is not present to respond to the child. He or she may not look at the child and may not call the child by name.
• Rejecting. This is an active refusal to respond to a child’s needs (e.g., refusing to touch a child, denying the needs of a child, ridiculing a child).
• Isolating. The parent or caregiver consistently prevents the child from having normal social interactions with peers, family members and adults. This also may include confining the child or limiting the child’s freedom of movement.
• Exploiting or corrupting. In this kind of abuse, a child is taught, encouraged or forced to develop inappropriate or illegal behaviors. It may involve self-destructive or antisocial acts of the parent or caregiver, such as teaching a child how to steal or forcing a child into prostitution.
• Verbally assaulting. This involves constantly belittling, shaming, ridiculing or verbally threatening the child.
• Terrorizing. Here, the parent or caregiver threatens or bullies the child and creates a climate of fear for the child. Terrorizing can include placing the child or the child’s loved one (such as a sibling, pet or toy) in a dangerous or chaotic situation, or placing rigid or unrealistic expectations on the child with threats of harm if they are not met.
  

4. If you suspect a child is being abused, what is the best way to report it if you're a teacher?

Educators should be guided by their school's internal administrative policies for reporting abuse, but state and federal laws mandate educators to report suspected child maltreatment-allowing school administrators to determine if a teacher's suspicions should be reported is unlawful. Educators are not trained investigators, so it is especially important for them to report suspected maltreatment and not assume the responsibility of determining whether or not the child has been abused.

If you're a neighbor across the street? 

Anyone suspected that a child is being abused should report it to their state child abuse hotline or call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline. Visiting a state's child abuse website will also help you learn about mandatory child abuse reporting laws that you may be subject to. Also remember that if you think that a child is in immediate danger from child abuse or neglect, then you should call 911.

What if it's your friend or relative that you think is abusing the child?

The exact same as above---The child's safety & concern should be your top priority--friend or not.

5. Along the same lines, I think other people may be worried about what happens if you report a child as being abused, but are wrong about it?

It's better to be safe than sorry.  You can remain completely anonymous when you make the call & file the report.  Leave it up to the investigators, who are trained to gather all the facts and decide if the child is legitimately being abused.

6. Do you have any noteworthy statistics on child abuse that you think the public should know about? (e.g., prevention, reporting, anything that comes to mind)

Absolutely!  Please visit our domain website---Look under the tab "Statistics" and you will find many national and state statistics on child abuse at: http://dreamcatchersforabusedchildren.com/abuse/statistics/

7. How hard is it to educate the public on child abuse? And why?

Education & awareness are the key to prevention. It is absolutely vital that the public is made aware of the epidemic of child abuse plaguing our nation. I have found that the public is open to learning about abuse, but still close-minded when it comes to accepting the statistics that follow. We also find many people who refuse to even "hear" about child abuse because it's either too graphic for them to comprehend or it hasn't affected them personally, so they don't care to know. We will not give up, though, and will focus on continuing our education.

8. What is the best way to educate the public? 

We have found networking to be the absolutely best way to reach a large audience most efficiently. We have over 12 different networking sites, with over 40,000 active members, and still growing.

Obviously, it seems kind of forward to leave fliers or something on someone's car windshield. So how do you reach the public?

Again, we prefer to use networking, but we've also written five child abuse & neglect books, have a Dreamcatchers BlogTalk Radio Show, submit newspaper articles, demonstration and seminars, and distribute fliers & business cards to the public both at public events and via snail mail by request.

9. There's been a lot of controversy surrounding the accuracy of recovered/repressed memories in therapy. What is your view regarding false memories? 

I do not believe in "false" memories.  It is a known fact that adult child abuse survivors will suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which will be "triggered" by events, situations, or certain circumstances in their adult life.  These triggers lead to abuse survivors to remember repressed memories.  Child abuse memories are moments in your life that are deeply embedded---there are no FALSE memories.

Should abuse survivors confront the abuser regarding their memory?

Each case is different & unique in it's own way as is each survivor.  Choosing whether or not to confront your abuser, prosecute your abuser, or dismiss your abuser is a personal decision that only the survivor can make.

10. What is one thing an ordinary person can do today to help stop child abuse?
Promote awareness, education themselves, education their children & loved ones around them. You can never learn enough about the signs/symptoms to watch for. Learning these signs may just save a child's life--whether it be your own child, grandchildren, neighbor child, or even a strange child you witness being abused in a public place.  We need to always be on the lookout.

11. Do you have any parting words of wisdom for fellow abuse survivors?

Many adults face the difficult task of healing from physical, emotional, spiritual, or sexual abuse suffered in childhood. This is often made more difficult by isolation and feelings of shame and self-blame. Many feel they must protect or shield those who abused, particularly if the perpetrators were family members, but survivors are encouraged to unite and help one another through the struggles of life after abuse. It's time to tell! It's time to help! Together, we can make a difference!!! 

12. Are there any upcoming web/blog posts you would like readers to know about?

Yes, we post child abuse headlines, news, bulletins, resources, tips, and important information on our domain website on a daily basis.  The public is urged to check our website often to continue educating themselves on child abuse & neglect. 

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Adam: I would like to extend a sincere thank you to Sandra for spending time with ZenTactics today.

For more information on how you can help educate and prevent child abuse, please visit the Dream Catchers website at http://dreamcatchersforabusedchildren.com/

 

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