The greater a child's terror, and the earlier it is experienced, the harder it becomes to develop a strong and healthy sense of self.

Child abuse is one of the world's deepest issues that is extremely difficult to talk about. It is surrounded by shame, guilt, fear, and so many other powerful emotions... yet we keep avoiding the issue. We are not helping those kids in need of support.

We are not giving them a hand to hold. And we are most definitely not proving to them that there will be an end to the madness. What we are currently promising them is that they will be "free" of it when they're old enough, when they can provide proof, or when we can find a different family to take them in. And in some cases, this new family turns out to be just as bad as the original one.

That's simply not good enough. Not for me, not for the children, and it sure as hell is not good enough for the future of our world.

This abuse casts the shadow of a lifetime. Over the years, they will most likely fail to gain full trust in another person and they will tend to withdraw from relationships... creating an isolation that persists even after the survivor is free.

We owe our children, the most vulnerable and innocent citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear. Abuse and neglect is the number one cause of injury to children in the country. Think about that. More children die of abuse and neglect than natural causes.

We have done some things to improve these statistics over the years, but only recently has this one specifically started working.

Just this month, an Indiana Safe Haven Baby Box saved an infant from a possibly worse reality. Instead of being left out in the cold for who knows what/who to find the child, or in another unsafe location, the newborn was anonymously placed inside this box.

These incubators allow parents to leave their infant in a safe place in the case that they feel they can no longer care for the child or are choosing to do otherwise, and they can do so without face-to-face interaction. It may sound harsh, but the goal of these boxes is to help deter parents from abandoning their unwanted babies in the streets, the woods, or even trash cans and etc..

Under the state's Safe Haven Law, passed in 2000, anyone can give up an unwanted newborn without fear of arrest or prosecution. An adult may also relinquish custody of a baby less than 30 days old to a hospital emergency room, fire station or police station.

This is a start and only a start. It's concerning that we have had to invent such devices, but it's also the right thing to do because, in reality, we can't completely cure the world of "bad parenting" no matter how hard we try. So, we're going to do the next best thing: react to the situation positively and help this child to build a successful life.

We also have places called Crisis Nurseries set in place for a similar purpose. Crisis nurseries provide short-term care for some of the country's most fragile families. To define "fragile," it is referring to families that experience crisis due to lost employment, medical emergencies, violence, and family dysfunction.

The goal of the crisis nursery program is to reduce parental stress, change parenting skills, and reduce the risk of child maltreatment. These are providing a way for the family to ask for help when in need without feeling like the world is out to get them. These nurseries acknowledge the fact that the parent is trying to look out for the needs of the child, even if it because they would rather shoot a needle up their arm.

On the other hand, a Texas school district recently decided to bring back paddling... which has consistently been pondered over to determine whether or not it is abusive. This is a very controversial topic and it's very clear that there are both positive and negative sides of it... but personally, I see more harm than good coming from it.

Sure, parents can give the teacher permission to do it. But now what position are you putting the teacher into? It's definitely not one I'd like to be in.

In paddling children for bad behavior, sure, they might learn the lesson a little quicker and refrain from partaking in such disruptive and discipline-worthy behavior, but we also have to keep in mind that we are then teaching young children that harming one another is how you get someone to listen. We are encouraging them to engage with one another in a more forceful way. And lastly, we are leaving them with the impression that school is no longer a safe zone.

In adding paddling back to the school's disciplinary system and procedures, we have to keep in mind that disciplinary actions at home differ from place to place, and even more specifically. home to home. What we absolutely cannot ignore is that a mind-blowing amount of children experience abusive relationships at home. In creating a way to physically punish a child in school, we are now adding more abuse to their life.

Why is that okay?

Why is a child going to want to act better and strive to fit into the social norm that is being forced on them if they're getting bombarded with negativity in the two main places that they are supposed to feel safe, wanted, and welcome?

Well, let me clear that up for you. They won't.

Speaking as an adult that was once a child in a scared position herself, I know that I specifically found a drive within myself to be better than what I was told I could be. I overcame the guilt, or so I'd like to tell myself I have. But not every child will. And not every child that beats child abuse will truly be free from it forever. As I said before, this abuse casts the shadow of a lifetime and knowing that children are like wet cement, our world needs to confront the fact that whatever falls on these innocent children, makes an impression... forever.

Therefore, let's work together to make sure that no more children experience the impression of abuse.