April Is Child Abuse Prevention Month

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Here are some things you can do to help prevent child abuse:

1.  Learn about child development.  Sometimes our expectations of children are not reasonable for their age or maturity level.
2.  Make a meal or offer to babysit or do something else kind for another family.  When we help each other, we reduce the stress that families experience.
3. Vote.  Make sure your state provides adequate resources for struggling families and for protective services.
4. Use positive methods of discipline.  Corporal punishment can create a cycle in which people grow up to believe that violence is an acceptable way of dealing with some issues.
5. Monitor the media that your child consumes, especially when your child is very young.  Violent television and video games can lead to adults who respond to stress with violence.