A parent’s worst nightmare: child abuse during daycare

By Amber Green
January 26th, 2010
Section: Blogs - The College Parent

Parents have many fears when it comes to their children. But the worst nightmare a parent can have is finding out that his or her child is being abused while in the care of someone else.

Most college parents have to rely on someone to care for their children while in class, whether it’s at a daycare center, a public school, with a babysitter, family and/or friends. College students who are parents have to face that reality at some point in their academic career.

College parents not only have the stress of school and/or work on their mind, but worrying if their children are being abused or neglected when they depart from them is even more nerve racking.

I know how nerve racking it can be because as a single mother I am always on the edge after I leave my three-year-old twin girls with the babysitter.

In the year of 2007, there was an estimate of 1,760 child fatalities reported by the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). I mean what parent wouldn’t be frightened when they read statistics like this?

A child who dies from the result of an injury or some form of neglect is defined as a “child fatality” according to the NCANDS.

There are many signs parents should be aware of if they suspect their children are victims of child abuse or neglect. Pay close attention if you notice your children don’t have an appetite to eat, or that they have a tendency to overeat, those can be signs that some form abuse is happening. If your child starts to have nightmares or begins bed-wetting after they have been potty trained; those also could be ways to determine if child abuse or neglect is present.

No parent should have to worry about if his or her child is being abused or neglected but reality is, it happens. We as parents can’t completely walk around with fear that our children will become victims of child abuse. But what we can do is become educated on how to prevent child abuse and how to detect it by visiting www.childwelfare.gov

The Web site is filled with resources on the different types of abuse and neglect, how to prevent this from happening to your child and statistics on the child fatalities, statewide and nationwide.

Additional web sites with resources and tips can be found at:

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  • eb21119

    I use that site. It’s wonderful!! It’s so easy and the information is so helpful. The daycare that I thought was a good daycare because it looked really nice, turned out to be a troubled center. The center that did not look to hot, actually had a good record. I was glad that I ordered those reports. Now that I know what I know, I would recommend all parents run a report on their current center and just see how well they are doing… You REALLY NEED TO CHECK!!

  • http://www.daycarepi.com jnl0031

    Good article! I agree this is very scary for parents, especially when reading news articles such as “Ex-con found guilty on daycare charges” (wavy.com) and “Va. Day-care Provider Convicted Of Shaking Baby” (wjz.com). I found a source I would like to share with fellow parents. It’s called http://www.daycarepi.com and how it works is you can go to the website and search daycares by zip code and then order background check reports for all of them. They are very detailed reports and state-certified. I believe it’s only available for Texas residents right now but I heard they are planning on expanding soon.

  • http://vindmolle.blogspot.com/ Vind Miller

    Stop Promoting Child Abuse Hysteria! Day Care Providers are wonderful people who love children. 80% of child abuse happens at home by someone the child knows.

    To Many false allegations have begun by using you “signs parents should be aware of”

    please read “No Crueler Tyrannies” Accusation, False Witness, and Other Terrors of Our Times, By Pulitzer Prize winning author, Dorothy Rabinowitz. This book recalls the hysteria that accompanied the child sex-abuse witch-hunts of the 1980s and 1990s: how a single anonymous phone call could bring to bear an army of recovered-memory therapists, venal and ambitious prosecutors, and hypocritical judges — an army that jailed hundreds of innocent Americans.

    The story of “No Crueler Tyrannies” is that of the Amirault family, who ran the Fells Acres day care center in Malden, Massachusetts: Violet Amirault, her daughter Cheryl, and her son Gerald, victims of perhaps the most biased prosecution since the Salem witch trials.

    I would rather you tell parents to watch for unusual bumps and bruises on you child but still don’t falsely accuse someone unless you have absolute facts regarding the source of the child’s injuries.

    • Amber Green

      Vind,
      I’m not trying to bash daycare centers at all. This is why I stated in my blog that a child can be abused by someone who is caring for them, whether it’s a daycare center, friend, family or the neighborhood babysitter. This is just something I think most parents worry about. I know as a parent that this crosses my mind every now and then when I’m dropping off my daughters no matter if I’m dropping them off with family, friends or the babysitter.

      There are just too many reports and incidents being reported on the news about children being mistreated in day cares.

      You made some very valid points but again, I am not falsely accusing day care centers of child abuse. I just feel parents should be AWARE that child abuse can happen anywhere, including with loved ones.

      And personally, I would never accuse anyone of something they didn’t do. I would definitely check my sources and facts of my children injuries. I simply only stated some signs that parents may ignore; bumps and bruises are obvious though, but emotional and behavioral changes is something some parents may not think about.

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