Challenges of Parenting

About 1 in 9 pregnant women consume alcohol or engage in binge drinking.

What is it?

Alcohol Spectrum Disorders are groups of conditions that can occur in a person who was exposed to alcohol before birth.

These effects can include physical problems and problems with behaviour and learning.

Symptoms:

Nervous Symptoms:

Trouble getting along with others.

Problems with behaviour and impulse control.

Poor Memory, Coordination and/or Balance.

Social and Behavioural Symptoms:

Difficulty identifying the consequences of Actions.

Intellectual disability, learning disorders, and delayed development.

Poor Social Skills, Problems staying on task, and poor concept of time.

Physical Symptoms:

Hearing problems and vision difficulty.

Small head circumference and brain size.

Deformities of joints, limbs, and fingers.

What Causes it?

The Causes of Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Include:

If the birthing parent consumes alcohol during pregnancy, it passes into the developing fetus. This can cause harm to the developing fetus's brain and body.

The impact of alcohol on a developing fetus depends on:
How often the pregnant woman has alcohol, whether she knows she's pregnant or not. How much alcohol does the pregnant woman have (ex., day-to-day basis, weekly, monthly, yearly, etc.). As well as when does she usually have alcohol (ie., every evening, only on weekends, only at parties, or only on holidays).

Other factors that can affect the baby's health & development, includes:

Stress

The pregnant woman's age(might be past 40 years)

Smoking

Any medications or Drugs

The pregnant woman's nutrition and health

Prevention:

No alcohol intake

Drinking water instead of alcohol, as well as water during a meal(could also be juice or any soft drinks).

You should also avoid drinking situations like going to clubs or parties that have alcohol there.

You should instead go to places that alcohol isn't served such as beaches and movies.

Gender and sexuality are two very different
things and should not be confused.

Parents Keep Child's Gender Secret

I think it is a great idea to do because we should never force children to be what they aren't capable of becoming. We should always support them with whichever gender they choose to be rather then forcing them to be a boy and making them play outside with friends or a girl forcing them to stay inside and help the parents.

Stressors Associated with the Child:

An unwanted child

A low birth-weight child

A child that reminds the parent or someone they do not like

A hyperactive child

A child that is different; A crying, irritable child

Stressors Associated with the Parent:

Spouse is gone much of the time

Single parent

Isolation

Divorce

Low self-esteem

Husband uninvolved and critical

Postpartum depression

Alcohol or other drugs

Emotional immaturity

Abused as a child

Financial stress

Stress of unemployment

Other stresses of any kind

Unrealistic expectations

Mental illness

Three Major Components of Child Abuse:

Child + Care Giver + Stress = Child Abuse

Types of Child Abuse:

Physical Abuse:

They are non-accidental injuries of a child that leaves marks, scars, bruises, or broken bones.

Physical Indicators:

Unexplained bruises, burns, human bites, broken bones, missing hair, scratches.

Behavioural Indicators:

Layered clothing.

Frightened of parents, afraid to go home

Wary of physical contact with adults

Behavioral extremes (aggressive or withdrawn)

Cheating, stealing, lying (a sign that expectations in the home are too high)

Emotional Abuse

Rejecting, terrorizing, berating, ignoring, or isolating a child, that causes, or is likely to cause, serious impairment of the physical, social, mental, or emotional capacities of the child.

Physical Indicators:

speech disorders, lags in physical development, failure to thrive.

Behavioural Indicators:

habit disorders (sucking, biting, rocking), conduct disorders (withdrawal, destructiveness, cruelty), sleep disorders or inhibition of play, behavior extremes (aggressive or passive).

Neglectful Abuse

Failure of parents or guardians to provide needed, age appropriate care including:

food, clothing, shelter, protection from harm

as well as supervision appropriate to the child’s development, hygiene, and medical care.

Physical Indicators:

constant hunger, poor hygiene, excessive sleepiness, lack of appropriate supervision, unattended physical problems or medical needs, abandonment, inappropriate clothing fro weather conditions.

Behavioural Indicators:

begging or stealing food, frequent sleepiness, lack of appropriate supervision, unattended physical problem or medical needs, abandonment, inappropriate clothing for weather conditions.

Sexual Abuse

Any inappropriate sexual exposure or touch by an adult to a child or an older child to a younger child.

This includes:

fondling, sexual intercourse, sexual assault, rape, date rape, incest, child prostitution, exposure, and pornography. It does not matter whether the victim was forced or tricked into any of the above, it is considered sexual abuse.

Physical Indicators:

Difficulty in walking or sitting, torn, stained, or bloody underclothing, pain or itching in genital area, bruises or bleeding in rectal/genital area, venereal disease.

Behavioural Indicators:

Age-inappropriate sexual knowledge/sexual touch, abrupt change in personality, withdrawn, poor peer relationships, unwilling to change for gym or participate in physical activities, promiscuous behavior/seductive behavior, drop in school performance/decline in school interest, sleep disturbances, regressive behavior for example, bed wetting.

Sexual Assault of Children:

Convicted rape and sexual assault offenders serving time in provincial prisons report that two-thirds of their victims were under the age of 18.

Among rape victims less than 12 years of age, 90% of the children knew the offender, according to police-recorded incident data.

Frequently, the person who sexually molests a child is also a child.

Influence of Substance Abuse:

Nearly one-half of substantiated cases of child neglect and abuse are associated with parental alcohol or drug abuse.

Men and women serving time in the nation’s prisons and jails report a higher incidence of abuse as children that the general populations.

Prevention of Child Abuse

Never discipline your child when your anger is out of control.

Participate in your child’s activities and get to know your child’s friends.

Never leave your child unattended, especially in the car.

Teach your child the difference between “good touches,” “bad touches” and “confusing touches.”

When your child tells you he or she doesn’t want to be with someone, this could be a red flag. Listen to them and believe what they say.

Be aware of changes in your child’s behavior or attitude, and inquire into it.

Teach your child what to do if you and your child become separated while away from home.

Teach your child the correct names of his/her private body parts.

Be alert for any talk that reveals premature sexual understanding.

Pay attention when someone shows greater than normal interest in your child.

Make certain your child’s school or day care center will release him/her only to you or someone you officially designate.

Individuals who witness or suspect that a child is being abused may not report it because they:

Want to avoid the demands of being "involved"

Have personal views which condone the use of physical punishment

Believe that the abuse is not "serious", especially if the child does not have visible or severe injuries

Believe that reporting the abuse to the authorities is not in the child's best interest

Believe that reporting may not solve the problem because, for example, there
may be a lack of appropriate services to help the child

Lack knowledge about the signs and symptoms of abuse

They don't understand their responsibility to report abuse

They do not know that they can report to child welfare agencies, provincial or territorial social services departments or police departments

They do not know that a report can be made anonymously, and that there are no legal consequences for it, unless the report is false and is made maliciously.

Although many cases of abuse are still not reported to either police or child welfare authorities, data from police reports and child welfare authorities is still the most important source of information about child abuse.

Based on the data the CIS have, they estimated that there were 135,573 child maltreatment investigations in Canada in 1998 (a rate of almost 22 investigations for every 1000 children in Canada).

Child welfare workers were able to confirm that the abuse had occurred in almost half (45%) of all cases.

The key findings of the CIS include:

In addition to the CIS findings, the 1999 General Social Survey on Victimization(GSS) provides additional information on the extent to which children are exposed to family violence.

The GSS found children in approximately half a million
households had either heard or witnessed a parent being assaulted during the five years prior to the survey.

Physical abuse:

In 1998, about one third (31%) of investigations involved
physical abuse as the primary reason for the investigation.

Physical abuse was confirmed in about one third (34 %) of these investigations, a rate of 2.25 cases of confirmed physical abuse for every 1,000 children in Canada.

Emotional maltreatment:

In 1998, 19% of all investigations involved emotional
maltreatment as the primary reason for the investigation.

Emotional maltreatment was confirmed in more than half (54%) of these cases, a rate of 2.20 cases per 1,000 children.

Neglect:

Neglect was the primary reason for investigation in 40% of all cases in 1998.

Neglect was confirmed in 43% of these cases, a rate of 3.66 cases per 1,000 children.

Sexual abuse:

One in ten (10%) investigations in 1998 involved sexual abuse as the primary reason for the investigation.

Sexual abuse was confirmed in more than one third (38%) of these cases, a rate of 0.86 cases per 1,000 children.

What Factors Contribute to Child Abuse?

There is no single, definitive cause of child abuse, and any child regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, cultural identity, socioeconomic status, spirituality, sexual orientation, physical or mental abilities or personality may be vulnerable
to being abused.

Child abuse is a complex problem and there are many different contributing factors (individual, familial, social).

Many experts believe that child abuse is linked to inequalities among people in our society and the power imbalance between adults and children.

A child is usually in a position of dependence on his or her abuser, and has little or no power compared to the abuser.

There is increasing understanding that a child's vulnerability to abuse may be increased by factors such as dislocation, colonization, racism, sexism, homophobia, poverty and social isolation.

For example, in the past, many children sent to institutions experienced abuse.

Most of these children were from marginalized groups in our society including, among others, children with disabilities, children from racial and ethnic minorities, Aboriginal children and children living in poverty.

There are also factors that may increase a child's vulnerability to being abused or compound the effects of abuse.

For example, a child's caregivers may experience barriers that prevent them from acquiring the necessary skills, resources and supports to prevent abuse, or they may lack access to the services and supports they need to address it.

What are the Consequences of Child Abuse?

Child abuse has devastating consequences for victims. Depending on its form(s),
duration and severity, abuse may affect every aspect of a child's life; it may have
consequences that are psychological, physical, behavioural, academic, sexual,
interpersonal, self-perceptual or spiritual.12 The effects of abuse may appear right
away, or surface only in adolescence or adulthood. Further, the effects may differ according to the nature of the response to the abuse, and whether the abuse was
disclosed or reported. In some cases, the consequences are fatal.

Girls and boys are affected differently by abuse.

Compared to boys, girls are more likely to internalize their response to violence, and experience, for example, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, low self-esteem and psychological disorders.

Boys are more likely to externalize their response to violence, displaying, for example, increased aggression, delinquency and spousal abuse.

Boys who have been exposed to violence in their homes are more likely to be violent in their
adolescent and adult relationships than boys not exposed to violence.

Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse

In Canada, child welfare laws require that all cases of suspected child abuse must be investigated to determine if a child is in need of protection.

If a child is determined to be in need of protection, the child welfare authorities may respond
by, for example, providing counseling and support for the family, removing the child (temporarily or permanently) from the home, or removing the abuser(s) from the home.

Criminal sanctions may also apply in cases of sexual or physical abuse.

Since the 1960s, significant steps have been taken to address child abuse in Canada including:

The introduction of mandatory reporting laws.

The creation of child abuse registries.

The changes to the Criminal Code and the Canada Evidence Act (see Reforming the law and enhancing its implementation).

The extension of time limits for laying charges in child sexual abuse cases.

The establishment of child protection agencies run by First Nations.

Further, since the landmark reports by Badgley (1984) and Rogers (1990), legislation to address child sexual abuse has been created and efforts to address the sexual exploitation of children are ongoing.

Following the 1996 report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the federal government acknowledged its role in the occurrence of physical and sexual abuse in residential schools, and implemented a community-based healing strategy for Aboriginal communities
(Gathering Strength).

Given the extent of child abuse in Canada - as well as the complexity of this issue and its enormous impact - effectively preventing, identifying and responding to child abuse is an enormous but essential task.

Addressing this issue requires the ongoing commitment and collaboration of community members, practitioners, and policy makers across Canada.

Community supports and services for victims and their families are essential.

The Department of Justice Canada and its partners (including non-governmental organizations, provincial and territorial governments and the private sector)are actively involved in addressing child abuse issues through legal reform, public and professional education, research and support for programs and services.

Some of this work is linked to the Department's participation in the federal government's current Family Violence Initiative which focuses on violence against women and children that occurs in the home, while other areas of activity are linked to other initiatives including, for example, the National Children's Agenda, the Aboriginal Justice Strategy, and the National Strategy on Crime Prevention and Community Safety.

Reforming the Law and Enhancing its Implementation:

In Canada's child welfare system, the provinces and territories are responsible for providing the care and services necessary to ensure children's welfare and safety.

The federal government is responsible for ensuring that, as far as possible, the Criminal Code provides protection for children from extreme forms of abuse, neglect and exploitation.

For example, child abusers may be charged under the Criminal Code for assaulting children.

In recent years, the Criminal Code has been amended to create new criminal offences relating to child sexual assault, to specifically include female genital mutilation in the aggravated assault provision, and to amend the provisions on child sex tourism.

Currently, Bill C-15 proposes legislation to protect children from sexual exploitation by criminalizing a number of specific actions including luring children on the Internet; transmitting, making available, or exporting child pornography on the Internet; or intentionally accessing child pornography on the Internet. Sentencing provisions are also to be strengthened. Bill C-15 also proposes measures to make it easier to prosecute people involved in child sex tourism.

Federal law also seeks to protect child witnesses.
For example, recent amendments to the Canada Evidence Act, which define the forms of evidence that may be admitted in court, allow children, depending on their age and the type of offence involved, to be accompanied by a support person when they testify in court.

Further, children can no longer be cross-examined by an accused; they may be allowed to provide testimony outside the courtroom or behind screens; and a videotape may be admitted as evidence, in lieu of a child's in-person testimony.

As part of the Children as Victims Project, the Department of Justice Canada is conducting a comprehensive review and consultation with its provincial/territorial partners and the public to determine the need for further reforms to criminal law and policy, particularly with respect to specific offences against children, children's testimony, and sentencing.

The Project is exploring:

Adding new child-specific offences to the Criminal Code: other child-specific offences under review include:

Criminal physical abuse of a child, criminal neglect of a child, criminal emotional abuse of a child, child homicide, and failing to report suspected crimes against children.

Ensuring that the Criminal Code provisions concerning age of consent are appropriate.

The areas under review include raising the general age of consent to sexual activity, and a possible amendment to ensure that a child victim's apparent consent cannot be used as a defense.

Ensuring that the Criminal Code contains sentencing provisions to better protect children.

Possible modifications currently under review include provisions to: specifically emphasize the importance of denunciation and deterrence of crimes against children; provide the courts with additional tools to require longer-term supervision and mandate the availability of treatment for offenders who pose a continuing danger of re-offending against children; recognize the frequency and seriousness of child abuse in the home and at the hands of parents and caretakers; (recognize that in cases involving familial child abuse or breach of trust, it is not unusual for the offender to be "of previous good character" or to lack a prior criminal record, and accordingly the courts should place less emphasis than usual on these factors when sentencing offenders in such cases; and require the courts to emphasize the emotional and psychological harms caused to children in assessing the gravity of the offences and the conduct involved.

Improving the experience of child witnesses and facilitating their testimony in criminal proceedings.

Potential changes under review include: eliminating the required competency hearing for child witnesses; making the use of testimony outside the courtroom or behind screens more widely available; increasing the use of videotaped evidence; changes to the use of hearsay statements; ensuring that delays in the court process do not jeopardize the availability of support for child witnesses; ensuring that supports are available regardless of the type of offence; and ensuring that children are not questioned in ways that are inappropriate to their age and development during cross-examination.

Some of the Department's other areas of activity which impact on the issue of child abuse include:

The Supreme Court of Canada has recently upheld the Criminal Code of Canada's possession of child pornography provision.

A Federal/Provincial/Territorial Working Group on Prostitution has been addressing the issue of youth involvement in prostitution through research and consultations in most jurisdictions. The Working Group's report on legislation, policy and practices concerning prostitution-related activities was released in December 1998.

The Department is actively involved in international efforts to prevent trafficking in children and child sexual exploitation.

The family law system and the federal Divorce Act are also important tools for addressing the issue of child abuse. The Department is consulting with Canadians to determine how the legal system can improve its response to family violence when parents are separating or divorcing, and what changes (if any) should be made to the federal Divorce Act to promote child-centered decision-making in situations of violence to ensure the safety of children and others.

Other Strategies to Prevent and Respond to Child Abuse:

In addition to reforming the law and enhancing its implementation, the Department of Justice Canada is involved in many other strategies to prevent and respond to child abuse.

Education:

Education involves providing children with knowledge about their rights, and
teaching them the skills to identify abuse, ask for help, and avoid being
re-victimized. Further, parents and caregivers need information and support to help
them care for children in a positive and nurturing manner. The Department
supports public legal education programs across Canada that educate the public
about family violence, including the prevention, identification and reporting of
child abuse.

Professional development and Resources:

Many different groups of practitioners may have contact with children who are abused. Enhancing the awareness and skills of judges, Crown prosecutors, defense lawyers, police, health care workers, social workers, psychologists, and teachers about child abuse enables effective intervention.
The Department works with its partners to support specialized training for justice system and law enforcement personnel in order to build a coordinated multi-sectoral, multi disciplinary response with other systems.

Research, data collection and information sharing

The Department is involved in a number of national-level research and data collection activities related to child abuse that will help to: Increase knowledge about child abuse and its impacts throughout different stages of life:
● improve information exchange between government agencies
● increase the effectiveness of responses to child abuse, and
● enhance services and supports for children.

Support for program and service delivery:

Support and intervention for children and families who have experienced abuse, or who are at risk, are essential.

The Grants and Contributions fund supports pilot projects to develop, test and assess models, strategies and tools to improve the criminal justice system's response to child abuse.

Through the National Strategy on Crime Prevention and Community Safety, the Department supports community-based prevention and intervention programs that address risk factors for child abuse.

Everyone has a Legal Obligation to Report Suspicion or Knowledge of Child Abuse!!

In Canada's child welfare system, the provinces and territories are responsible for providing the care and services necessary to ensure children's welfare and safety.

The Criminal Code of Canada (CCC)

The federal government is responsible for ensuring that the Criminal Code provides protection for children from extreme forms of abuse, neglect and exploitation.

For example, child abusers may be charged under the Criminal Code for assaulting children.

Some child abuse related charges include the following:

Child Abduction

Child Trafficking

Child Sexual Abuse

Failure to provide the necessaries of life

Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict

The Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict establishes 18 as the minimum age for compulsory recruitment and requires States to do everything they can to prevent individuals under the age of 18 from taking a direct part in hostilities.

Day Nursery's Act

The Day Nursery’s Act is provincial legislation which governs the delivery of child care services in the province of Ontario.

This is a legal document with legal ramifications if any aspect of it is breached.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Rules associated with licensing a child-care centre

Training of staff in a child-care centre

Ratio of children in a child-care centre

Health and Safety and Emergency Preparedness within a child-care centre

Reporting child abuse mandate

Revocation of licenses (reasons and protocol)

Early Childhood Educators Act

Dictates the rules and obligations associated with being a licensed early childhood educator in the province of Ontario.

Defines the practice and states boundaries associated with the practice.

Discusses administrative and governing details of the occupation.

Discusses disciplinary processes and general ramifications.

States the ‘right to report’ staff who may pose a risk to children: sec. 49 (1a,b).

Section 49.
(1) An employer shall promptly report to the College in writing when the employer becomes aware that a member of the College who is employed by the employer as an early childhood educator.

(a) has been charged with or convicted of an offence under the Criminal Code (Canada) involving sexual conduct and minors; or otherwise

(b) has been charged with or convicted of an offence under the Criminal Code (Canada) that in the opinion of the employer indicates that a child may be at risk of harm or injury.

2007, c. 7, Sched. 8, s. 49.

Convention of the Rights of A Child

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights—civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.

In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them because people under 18 years old often need special care and protection that adults do not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children have human rights too.

The Convention sets out these rights in 54 articles and two Optional Protocols.

It spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere have:

the right to survival

to develop to the fullest

to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation;

and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.

The four core principles of the Convention are:

Non-discrimination

Devotion to the best interests of the child

The right to life, survival and development

Respect for the views of the child

2 Optional Protocols:

To help stem the growing abuse and exploitation of children worldwide, the United Nations General Assembly in 2000 adopted two Optional Protocols to the Convention to increase the protection of children from involvement in armed conflicts and from sexual exploitation:

Involvement of children in armed conflict

The sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography

The sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography

The Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography draws special attention to the criminalization of these serious violations of children's rights and emphasizes the importance of fostering increased public awareness and international cooperation in efforts to combat them.

Why Are These Considered "Optional"?

Human rights treaties are often followed by ‘optional protocols’, additional legal mechanisms that complement and add to the treaty.

The Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography draws special attention to the criminalization of these serious violations of children's rights and emphasizes the importance of fostering increased public awareness and international cooperation in efforts to combat them.

A protocol is ‘optional’ because it is not automatically binding on States that have already ratified the original treaty.

The obligations in the protocol are additional and may be more demanding than those in the original convention, and so States must independently choose whether or not to be bound by a protocol.

What To Do:

Be open and understanding

Don't try to conduct an investigation yourself

if the child tells you of the sexual abuse immediately after it occurred, DO NOT bathe the child, or wash or change his/hers/their clothes.

Let the child talk as much as he/she/they wish to.

Understand that the child is probably having mixed feelings.

Believe the child.

Explain what you will do next to help them.