Looks Like Child Abuse

Very well asked. I always wonder too when it's child abuse or not. What people might think. By now I think many people will think that way since we are confronted with it daily. Even if it's not true, governments worldwide tell us when it is or not. And if childabuse shows up, it is false alarm you are still a suspect. Personally I would not think about child abuse that easily. Why? Because I was a victim of child abuse for 15 years and I know how a kid that is abused moves, acts.. it's way more as brushes. I know that in most times you are not able to see the abuse at all because they keep you inside and lock you up till it's over. Kids are kids and they stumble over their own feet, burn their fingers on the stove, fall from the stairs, out of their bed or from their bike. They "fight" with other kids. Accidents happen at school, at home, etc. It's normal and they need those experiences as well.

People with children will wonder if the kid fell or something of that nature. I am a parent and I have two boys that are 4 and 5. I know kids fall and get hurt all the time for a number of reasons but usually running and face planting. Just today my children were playing and running around only for my 4 year old to run into the door knob and so he has a small bruise on his head. He also then said the door knob hit him in true little kid style. Now people who don't have kids and have no real idea about kids will call child services in a heartbeat because your child looks like that. They will not understand that your child fell, not ask for your side of the story, but they will call and say you are abusing your kid. It can be as small as one bruise. My idiotic neighbor (who has no kids) wanted to call child services because I refused to let my (then 3 year old) child stay up super late and so he threw a tantrum. The police came to my house, saw my child and saw that he was perfectly ok, and told them that my child is fine he is throwing a tantrum. They didn't understand it but I wasn't giving in. They called child services as well and they said it wasn't child abuse to put my children to bed at 7pm. Those are the people you may have to worry about.

I do not automatically assume child abuse, but some people do. I was babysitting some kids from our church ages ago. The youngest child always tried to be as big as the other two and she fell on some concrete and bruised her face. Evidently someone from our church nursery reported it. So one day on his lunch the dad had to take her to the child welfare office. (SRS here). The social worker said "yes, it looks like a fall on concrete to me." End of story. My son, at two years old, decided to turn somersault's on an aluminum chaise longue. He had a bruise on every vertebrae all the way up his spine. When in Kindergarten he was running on an icy play ground, slid into the tether ball pole. He had a bruise top to bottom on his face. These blond blue eyed kids look awful if they are clumsy.

That's a good question...and a tough one at that. This reminds me of an old "I Love Lucy" episode, even though it doesn't deal with kids. If I remember right, Lucy had asked Ricky to toss her a book. She missed and it smacked her right in the face. She ended up getting a very notice mark from it. She joked around with Ricky about how it must look to others. When their neighbors (and best friends) came over and saw it they got the wrong impression. They thought Ricky had beat her up! In the end, Fred and Either believed Ricky and Lucy about what really happened...but only because it happened to them as well! lol Accidents can be a funny thing. People tend to conjure up all kinds of thoughts and not want to believe the truth, especially when it comes to kids. Their intentions may be in the right place, but it can be frustrating just the same. Happy mylotting! PS Poor little guy. I hope he's feeling okay.

Children can really be rowdy. They would just run or walk hurriedly, without looking at what they will be stepping at. Thus, accidents happens. And basing from your boy's picture, don't worry because it sure looks that he tripped over something and fell on his face.

Hi nonersays, No I don't think child abuse...my first thought would be juust to actually ask what happen,,,most people who are not abuser will be happy to tell you where as an abuser would try to not answer any query...Children do fall and someimes get hurt pretty bad....

Kids are always getting scraped and bruised. It's part of being a kid, I think. I can understand your worry, though, because it seems like "child protective agencies" hover around watching to see who they can catch next, more like vultures than protectors. I know that children are abused and some parents have no right to be parents, but for the most part, parents love and protect their children. It's human nature. I don't worry about a kid until/unless he is bruised or cut up over and over again. Also, if he acts afraid or brash or something you wouldn't expect of a child, there is probably something wrong.

An abused child will display much more than just physical injuries, so it'd be a rather ridiculous assumption to make. I'd look to his/her behavior and those who are raising him to determine if something like abuse has happened.

Kids are really clumsy and are prone to such incidence. My son had an accident almost two months ago that left a mark on his face and chest, but we thank God its disappearing now. He had a burn accident that resulted to second degree. He got the thermos with hot water and unfortunately the stop lock was not close so the horrible thing happened. I was really devasted that day and to think it was my husband's birthday. It is natural for us to think there is something wrong when we see a child with such a bad scar on his face, a bruise etc. And i know people will think how bad the parents are for letting such thing happened to their children. But hey, they don't what happened. I just thank God that my son does not incur severe wounds and that we are really extra careful now.

well,kids are kids,the scrape is a witness point of their growth .

Awe, the poor kid. I have had some things like that happen to me as a kid. It seems I was allergic to peanuts, as the teacher sent me to the nurse to check out a rash on my face once in 1st grade. The teacher said she thought it looked like a "mark" like someone had smacked me, but it wasn't. My mom took me to the DR and he said I had the allergy so she had to stop giving me peannut butter and jelly sandwiches which I loved. Awhile later she started giving them to me again as this was her nature, she would only stop something like that for a short time and then continue on as normal not even thinking of if I would have another rash or not. Funny things is I didn't get another rash and later in life I started getting diagnosed with eczema, and started getting them again in my late 30's. Now I stayed away from the chocolate and peanuts again, but later when I gave in my mom would nag me about giving in to it, when she did the same as me as a kid. Anyways, my point is just that some things can't all be interpreted as child abuse, it very well may be something like a fall, etc. I wouldn't turn the parents in for child abuse. However if I hear and see my neighbors here smacking their kids and stuff I did want to call the police on them, they seemed pretty rough on the young ones. One Spanish lady dragged her small young daughter by the hair out in the front of their yard one day, and another Jamaican lady started hitting on her 14 yr old son in the front of their house for having a few friends over. My mom saw it too and she was so angry at the mom. The kid looked like he didn't even wanna go back in the house with the rest of the family then. I wasn't sure what to do. I'm not all that friendly with my neighbors anyways but those Jamaican kids were sweet kids, just alittle naughty like most kids can be. Hitting him like she was (more like punching) just wasn't necessary. Those are only a few cases I recall, I'm always afraid that the people and my family here would say I was interfering too much and should let it go. However, if it were an animal I would turn them in in an instant without anyone else's approval.