Saturday, July 25, 2009

What is Abuse.??

Abuse is a harmful act forced on a more vulnerable person by someone with more dominator power. it is a criminal act of violence that may take many forms: sexual, physical, verbal, emotional, spiritual and is when one person, over time, hurts another, either physically or emotionally.


It is awful, scary, embarassing and hurtful and is a problem which affects many families and relationships in every ethnic, religious, and economic group.

This can also take the form of hate crimes directed at people just because of their race, religion, abilities, gender, or sexual orientation. Abusers may manipulate a person into keeping quiet by saying stuff like: "This is a secret between you and me," or "If you ever tell anybody, I'll hurt you or your mom," or "You're going to get in trouble if you tell and tends to happen to people in a weaker position or to those who are willing to be accommodating.

Abuse is an intentional act that one person uses in a relationship to control the other. He or she have learned to abuse so that they can get what they want and in a relationship is about a pattern of behavior that one person uses against another to intimidate them and to get them to do what they want.

Child abuse and neglect occurs when a child is mistreated, resulting in injury or risk of harm, it can happen anywhere -- in poor, middle-class or well-to-do homes, in rural or urban areas.

This is a very serious problem in every society because of its hidden, tolerated, discounted and denied aspects that has existed for centuries.

Children in homes where there is domestic violence are more likely to be abused and/or neglected, they are harmed just by seeing and hearing the violence and will suffer if they are always shouted at, made to feel stupid, rejected, used as scapegoats or live in a violent environment.

Child abuse can happen at home, school, child care, or even in a church or other religious building, this happens when an adult mistreats or neglects a child.

Children depend upon adults to protect them, support them and help them survive.

Physical Neglect is the failure to provide for a child's physical survival needs to the extent that there is harm or risk of harm to the child's health or safety.

Physical abuse is often the most easily spotted form of abuse and is defined as any corporal punishment that either leaves marks or is potentially dangerous to the child, it is injury to a child under the age of 18 by other than accidental means by a parent or caretaker which results in bruises, welts, fractures, burns, cuts, internal injuries, etc. this is when someone physically hurts another person and is, any physical act intended to harm, injure or inflict pain on the victim.

Physical neglect is not receiving the proper level of care for a child, for example no shoes, lack of proper clothing, lack of food, lack of shelter and lack of medical care.

Violence is a learned behaviour, when it works to get the desired result, it is used again and again as long as the perpetrator continues to get satisfactory results and the victim feels helpless to escape it, this is most disturbing and destructive when it occurs within the boundaries of a relationship.

It becomes a choice, whereby one person in the relationship acquires and maintains power and control over the actions and thoughts of the other.

Abuse and violence cross geographical and cultural boundaries and social and economic strata.

Someone growing up in a family where there is violence or abuse may not know that there are other ways for family members to treat each other.

If you're one of the thousands of people living in an abusive situation, it can help to understand why some people abuse — and to realize that the violence is not your fault.

If you're a victim of abuse or violence at the hands of someone you know or love, or you are recovering from an assault by a stranger, you are not alone.

The effects of abuse are long-lasting and destructive and leave a lifelong imprint of violence, especially when it is experienced in childhood.

If the person you love or live with does any of these things to you, it's time to get help, monitors what you're doing all the time, criticizes you for little things, constantly accuses you of being unfaithful, prevents or discourages you from seeing friends or family, or going to work or school, gets angry when drinking alcohol or using drugs, controls how you spend your money, controls your use of needed medicines, humiliates you in front of others, destroys your property or things that you care about, threatens to hurt you, the children, or pets, or does hurt you (by hitting, beating, pushing, shoving, punching, slapping, kicking, or biting), uses or threatens to use a weapon against you, forces you to have sex against your will, blames you for his or her violent outbursts then it's definately time you seek help, the outcome of situations like this are almost always inevitable.

Because it is often learned at an early age, it can be passed from generation to generation like a family disease.

. Violent relationships, be they opposite or same sex, intimate, family or acquaintance, have common elements of intimidation, isolation and fear.

Women suffer more frequent and extreme incidents of violence than men and are more likely to sustain serious or life-threatening injuries, living with a lot of denial and do not understand that the more they hold spousal abuse prone husband, the more the chances of more dangerous events happening in their lives becomes inevitable .

Women themselves can also be suicidal as a result of emotional abuse. Those who live in remote areas may not have services available in their community.

Most abusers and batterers are males but a significant minority are women.

Both men and women can be abusive and it can occur in virtually all age groups. It is important to remember that women can also be abusers and men can be victims.

Although both men and women can be abused, most victims are women.

Emotional abuse happens when yelling and anger go too far or when parents constantly criticize, threaten, or dismiss kids or teens until their self-esteem and feelings of self-worth are damaged.

Emotional neglect  is when the child suffers from the parent's not giving them chances for feeling loved, wanted, secure, and worthy. Neglect can also mean taking away a person's right to make decisions about their own life and health. This abuse is often done in private, but it can also be done in front of other people and is frequently used to break down the victim's will and bring her or him under control.

Cruelty does not necessarily entail physical violence; it could be emotional or mental cruelty which may form part of the overall pattern of violence.

Domestic violence is not limited to actual physical abuse but also includes intimidation, isolation, emotional persecution, economic abuse, sexual exploitation, and threats.

Victims can be of any age, sex, race, culture, religion, education, employment or marital status they also have the feeling that they cannot survive without abuser and are not capable of being on their own.

The other reason to abuse someone is because the abuser wants to motivate his victim to do something, to feel in a certain way, or to refrain from committing an act.

Abuse in any form is damaging to a victim's mind/brain, body, their life. The lasting effects of mental and/or physical pain endured by children, definitely applies to all childhood victims and shows it effects in the later life of an adult.

Healthy relationships involve respect, trust, and consideration for the other person.

Abuse is a message of control and dominance, never a message of love. But it is never the fault of the person who is being abused, no matter how much the abuser tries to blame others.

Emotional abuse is very hurtful; many women who have been abused say that the emotional abuse is even more damaging and harder to heal from than physical abuse.

It is the violation of an individual s human and civil rights by any other person or persons .

What Is Hunger???

Hunger is a world wide problem that effects 854 million people across the world and is directly related to constrained financial resources. This is a complex issue, and addressing it appropriately needs to be informed by an understanding of why it exists in the first place, free of commonly held misperceptions and myths.

This is particularly devastating to children, increasing their susceptibility to: chronic illness, behavioral problems, physical, mental and emotional, delays lowered attention spans, absenteeism, tardiness and school suspensions.

It is also the most commonly used term to describe the social condition of people who frequently experience, or live with the threat of experiencing, the physical sensation of hunger and is a problem all over the world.

Hunger for me is, firstly, empty stomach.

It alter one's attention span and impair one's intellectual abilities, can weaken one's immune system, and can cause death.

The effects are even worse on children than on adults, it slows thinking, saps energy, hinders fetal development and contributes to mental retardation, thus trapping individuals and households in a vicious cycle of ill health and diminished capacity for learning and work, causing and contributing to widespread poverty and death, it entails large economic costs, severely compromising the productivity of individuals, the growth of nations and the sustainable use of natural resources

It kills the soul before it kills the body and leaves its imprint on children for years and frequently prevents them from reaching their highest potential.

. Employers and teachers may see hungry people as slow or lazy, when in fact they suffer from lethargy, the body's response to prolonged calorie and nutrient deprivation.

Programs must use approaches that address not only the basic needs of hungry people, but also focus on the underlying social, economic, environmental, and political causes of hunger.

Yearly, we spend billions on our "defense" while many children in our own country and in nations around the world go to bed hungry at night. Now it says there are 799 million hungry people in the developing countries. Does this mean that the number of hungry has increased

. All regions have some people who are hungry.In the second half of the 1990s, however, the number of chronically hungry in developing countries started to increase at a rate of almost four million per year, with this insight, our responsibility to the hungry becomes clear.

There are hungry people and well-fed people in virtually every country and virtually every community.

Thus, being hungry means anguish,the anguish of making impossible choices

But for more than 850 million people, the hunger never ends, every day, millions of people around the world eat only the bare minimum of food to keep themselves alive.

For example, between 100 and 140 million children suffer from vitamin A deficiency and as a result, more than 2 million children each year suffer severe problems with their eyesight.

On average, 62 million people die each year, of whom probably 36 million (58 per cent) directly or indirectly as a result of nutritional deficiencies, infections, epidemics or diseases which attack the body when its resistance and immunity have been weakened by undernourishment and hunger

More than two million children die every year from dehydration caused by diarrhea. At least 5 million children around the world die of hunger each year, and more than 850 million people around the world are going to bed hungry, according to the United Nations.

Today, one in nearly seven people does not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life, making hunger and malnutrition the number one risk to health worldwide -- greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

Most often, many families simply don't have enough money left after paying rent, utilities and health care to purchase enough food.

Every human being must eat to continue living, and must eat well so as to be healthy.

Children especially need adequate nutrition to develop properly or risk serious health problems, including impaired cognitive development; growth failure; physical weakness; anemia, and stunting.

Food gives us the energy and nutrients we need to grow and develop; to move, work, play, think and learn; and to maintail life and health.

Many low-income people simply do not have enough income to cover their most basic needs: food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, transportation and childcare, The health symptoms may not be immediately visible to either the individuals themselves or to health workers, or they can take years to manifest themselves. Hungry people are unable to work to their full potential, are more susceptible to ill health and lack the capacity to save and invest.

Hunger also seriously affects adults, impeding their productivity and creating a host of associated health problems, making their lives even more difficult. Ignoring the signs of hunger is not a natural or desired state of being for healthy people also the lack of health facilities and the dreadful state of public services and the exploitation that goes on in the name of private healthcare leaves much to be desired.

When a family can’t grow enough food or earn enough money for food, there is no available assistance. When a family can not afford these healthy foods, they are often replaced with less expensive “filler” food with empty calories.

Countries all over the world are striken with poverty, and many people, children and adults,go without food for far too long.

Many developing countries are also poor and have no social safety nets.

One problem is that some of the world's poorest countries owe hundreds of billions of dollars in debt to many of the more developed countries and are calling for the developed countries to cancel their debt, which would mean that the less developed country would not have to repay it. Because of all of this money flowing out of these less developed countries, there is very little left to establish an economic infrastructure.

Chronic hunger -- or food insecurity -- is as devastating to families, communities, and countries as is famine. For example, many older people in all countries have serious protein and micronutrient deficiencies.

Some of the countries that have been most successful in significantly reducing hunger -- such as South Korea and Taiwan -- have been those that paid great attention to education, health care and land reform.

The United States can also help by not forcing down the throats of developing countries policies that benefit multinational corporations instead of people.

This is  becoming an issue we can't stop and is often a related effect of poverty. It is not getting enough of the right kinds of foods to meet our needs and is most devastating when it attacks children, since it can affect their mental and physical development for the rest of their lives, thus deepening the poverty cycle since they have less access to education and opportunities for work later in life.

Acute hunger or starvation are often highlighted on TV screens: hungry mothers too weak to breastfeed their children in drought-hit Ethiopia, refugees in war-torn Darfur queueing for food rations, helicopters airlifting high energy biscuits to earthquake victims in Pakistan or Indonesia.

A hungry mind cannot concentrate, a hungry body does not take initiative, a hungry child loses all desire to play and study. Deprived of the right nutrition, hungry children are especially vulnerable and become too weak to fight off disease and may die from common infections like measles and diarrhoea.

Truly, then hunger is the ultimate symbol of powerlessness.

What Is Good Parenting

If a parent is willing to dedicate time in their day to just sit and talk with the child, good parenting will be the inevitable result. The more parents practice when they do have time to think before they act, the more natural it will become during those moments when they are responding instinctively

Parenting is joyful, important, challenging and deeply satisfying work that is worthy of everyone’s best efforts, it is a learned art; our most important teachers are our own parents, our family and our children and offers parents the ability to raise a new member of the global community, someone who has unlimited potential to make a difference in the future. If you are raising children then you need to make this art the priority. Sorry, the adages do as I say, not as I do just doesn’t cut it as a parent

Parents must see that the paramount role they play can improve their children's lives and, by extension, create a better community and society. They are expected to provide a safe and nurturing environment; to help their children develop trust, self control and self-esteem; and to help their children develop good judgment. A parents work in the home will be more effective if their first priorities are God, each other, and their children.

Children need to grow up to be well-rounded adults because of their parents not in spite of them. They should learn to make decisions,to be responsible, and to be trustworthy, should learn to love and be loved, to care about people, to show respect, to be close with their families and others.

Children of all ages really do crave consistent, predictable limits and caring adults in their lives and need to know if they violate rules that there will be consequences. Kids with siblings learn how to share and resolve conflicts quite easily.

It is ok to be friends with your child but you must always know when the parent needs to be present.

Good parenting requires the support of family, friends and community. The quality of family life is fundamental to the well being of the community, most parents undertake this important social role with little, if any, preparation other than the experience of being raised by their own parents.

At a time when extended family networks are breaking down, divorce rates are high and single parent families are common, parents more than ever need support to learn and understand the demands of parenting, take action if you need help, rely on family, friends, coworkers, your Church and others for support, talk to them about any problem or stress you are having

One way to nurture your child is to begin giving them responsibilities within the family that are appropriate for their age and will provide them with a sense of accomplishment and pride. Some of the best times we've had as a family have been sitting around the dinner table, dinner is one of the best places for talking about your day and growing your relationship with your child. .

Caring and nurturing parents can teach children and other parents strategies to give our children a safer and more healthful environment, it creates healthier, more respectful, more loving, and more fun relationships.
Having an open, truthful and honest relationship without any secrets is vital to the physical, emotional and spiritual health of our children, ourselves and our society,
For healthy growth, children need supervision and care, each person may have their own definition, a healthy life style should lie in Balance. The balance of responsive caring and reasonable demands is essential for children’s good mental health.

When fathers are present and participate, children learn that relationships matter, and that healthy relationships require commitment, patience and perseverance. The work is little trouble for parents who enjoy being close to their children and who cultivate healthy relationships with their spouses and children.

It is with that support and caring atmosphere that can help the children to grow up healthy and prepared for life.

Good parenting is one of the hardest tasks you face as an adult, it is not just good for kids, it’s good for society. It is about being proactive rather than waiting for problems to arise and is the greatest gift you can give your child.