Rates of suicide, self-harm, violence and crime are significantly higher in veteran populations of traumatized soldiers just as they are higher in populations of children suffering from child abuse and trauma (ACES, Adverse Childhood Experiences). Today, the chronic high stress of the COVID lockdown is growing anxiety, depression and behavioral problems everywhere, but especially in the homes of at risk children.

KARA Signature Video (4 minute)

The COVID pandemic has hammered Children’s Mental Health

Children are literally helpless when repeated neglect, beatings, rape or other violence occur. 

The thinking part of their brain can’t stop the trauma.

When this happens that part of the brain gives up its function to the amygdala – the oldest part of the brain.

Physically and mentally, traumatized children develop differently than their peers with behavioral and biological changes that never go away. With help, these changes can be managed but hard-wired trauma is a real thing that doesn’t evaporate when a child is removed from the abusive environment.

It’s cruel to expect children to expect badly damaged children to seamlessly adjust to a foster home or fit in at school.

Just as a veteran’s traumas do not evaporate when they return home away from their traumas and violent surroundings, children from violent and dysfunctional families don’t forget their past.

Abused and neglected children do not have the mental capacity to understand what is happening to them

And even if they know, who would you tell? Your parents are the primary authority in your life as a child – they make the rules.

Abused children have a toxic past that has become their “normal”.

To an abused child, their homelife is all they know.

 

Needed help doesn’t just happen. It comes from a caring community with an understanding of trauma and healing.

KARA reports on the issues of child abuse.

This article submitted by CASA volunteer Mike Tikkanen

All Adults Are The Protectors of All Children

Please share this article widely

Read articles gathered on the topic below;

Gender Nation helps communities empower and validate children with LGBTQ storytelling

The Desert Sun

The kids would read the books, and then people would share their stories on Facebook. Cut to a couple of years later during the L.A. teachers strike.

Flag as irrelevant
Office of Children’s Mental Health: Budget recommendations to improve children’s well-being

Wisbusiness.com

Intentional selfharm claims for the 13-18 age group increased more than 100% from March 2019 – 2020; Wisconsin ranked among the top 5 states in …

Dept. of Health Services: Office of Children’s Mental budget recommendations to improve children’s – Wisbusiness.com

Mental Health Issues For Youth In Colorado Reaching Emergency Levels – CBS Denver

Children with mental health problems face long waits for treatment, says report – Evening Standard

Full Coverage

Flag as irrelevant
Healthy Tahoe: A parent safety checklist for adolescent mental health

Tahoe Daily Tribune

This includes comments about death, dying, selfharm, harming another person or an … If concerns exist, call your child’s physician or therapist.

Flag as irrelevant
Texas emergency shelter is mostly ‘warehousing’ thousands of migrant children, according to …

WENY-TV

Children report thoughts of selfharm. Welch and a team of lawyers visited seven emergency intake sites in recent weeks and interviewed more than 100 …

Flag as irrelevant
The children selling explicit videos on OnlyFans

BBC News

But BBC News has also heard from child protection experts across the UK and US, … issues including anger, low self-esteem, selfharm and suicide ideation”. … the risks children are exposing themselves to by appearing on the site.

Flag as irrelevant

Corbella: Isolation of COVID has caused youth mental health issues to spike

Calgary Herald

She had cut her left forearm with a box cutter in an attempt to alleviate her … “We want to form a precise picture of the challenges children and youth …

Flag as irrelevant
Letter: Forcing children to wear masks unnecessary

Hudson Valley One

… among schoolchildren – including selfharm and suicide. The rise of these problems coincides directly with the imposition of mask-wearing. Children …

Flag as irrelevant
Troubled child of the Murdoch and Freud dynasties battles her demons

The Sydney Morning Herald

Her addiction to the drug ketamine earned her the nickname “K-Angel”, and she turned to drugs and selfharm while she was at one of Britain’s most …

Flag as irrelevant
Bedtime With a Pet Won’t Harm Your Kid’s Sleep – and Might Help

U.S. News & World Report

That the new study used technology to track sleep measures, rather than relying on all self-reported measures, makes it stronger, said Dr. Cora …

Flag as irrelevant
OPINION: Are parents missing lesson in social and emotional learning?

Atlanta Journal Constitution

… the district saw alarming rates of depression, selfharm and suicide in students. … I need them to handle the education my child needs to succeed …

Flag as irrelevant
CHOP to provide mental health services to Girard College students

PhillyVoice.com

And since 2016, the number of children ages 6-12 who have visited children’s hospitals for self harm has doubled. Last year, emergency mental health …

Flag as irrelevant

They are killing us: guns and public health

MSR News Online

… injuries in children and to reduce the chances for selfharm in adolescents. The AAP maintains that the safest home for a child is one without guns.

Flag as irrelevant
Mom Alleged Stalking, Text Threats Before Dad Killed Young Son and Self: Court Records

NBC 6 South Florida

Greyson’s mother, Alison Kessler, did everything she could to keep her child safe from harm. We feel that the system failed us at every level, from her …

Flag as irrelevant
4 families, doctors sue Arkansas over transgender youth health care ban

New York Daily News

“We have told all of our children that we will always protect them, but this law … of transgender youth in Arkansas who could have their hormone therapy cut off under a new state law banning gender confirming treatments for minors.

Flag as irrelevant
Does the government have a plan for managing serious youth offenders?

PoliticsHome.com

While there were falls in selfharm in YOIs and secure children’s homes (SCHs – which house a mixture of welfare and youth justice cases), in STCs …

Flag as irrelevant
Teen charged with sexually assaulting younger girl at Wolverine juvenile facility in Saginaw County

mlive.com

A March 24, 2021, letter from MDHHS’s Department of Child Welfare … Totzkay had a history of selfharm and being bullied during her residence at the …

Flag as irrelevant
People Are Calling Out “Normal” Parenting Tactics That Are Actually Toxic, And It’s So Important

BuzzFeed

Change your mind when your child gives you a valid reason. … Unless your kid has a serious drug or selfharm problem, violating their privacy will …

Flag as irrelevant
Press Release: Department of Homeland Security Medical Experts Call Upon Congress to Address …

Government Accountability Project

… to Address Ongoing and Future Harm to Migrant Children and Families from Detention … and suicidal or selfharming behaviors, neurodevelopmental disabilities, and chronic medical diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

Flag as irrelevant
Cases of child sexual abuse continue unabated in Pakistan

ANI News

Regardless of gender, the harmful effects of sexual violence are the same for males and females: guilt, self-blame, anger, fear, confusion, distrust, …

Flag as irrelevant
Letter: Big Tech must tackle fraudsters by adopting user verification

Financial Times

… in tackling issues such as racist bullying, selfharm, child abuse and extremism (“UK proposes new powers to fight online fraud”, Report, May 15).

Flag as irrelevant
HEALTH: THE STRUGGLE BEHIND SELFINJURY

DAWN.com

Battling with depression, I fell into the lure of selfharm and, at the time, … experiences, for which she unconsciously blamed herself, even as a child.

Flag as irrelevant
The Tragic Real-Life Story Of Angelina Jolie

Nicki Swift

In the aforementioned Barbara Walters interview (via ABC), Jolie confirmed that she stopped selfharming when she adopted her first son, Maddox, …

Flag as irrelevant
A JCPS Policy Change Would Make It Harder, Not Impossible, To Suspend Young Kids

89.3 WFPL News Louisville

… in “safe crisis management” to use restraints on students when they believe the child poses “imminent danger of physical harm to self or others.”.

Flag as irrelevant
LGBTQ Iowans harmed by Legislature’s bad bills

The Gazette

Discussions of gender identity and the teaching of gender as a performance is critical to ensuring children grow up understanding the nuances of …

Flag as irrelevant
Proposed bill aims to restrict or ban use of restraint, seclusion in Maine schools

WGME

Mason says the most recent time her son was in crisis, he gave himself a black eye. “At his worst, Caleb’s selfinjurious behaviors were 25 per day, …

Flag as irrelevant
Maryland Peace of Mind: Teen shares mental struggles caused by pandemic

WBAL Baltimore

Selfharm is not the case for Addy, but she isolated, had difficulty getting out of bed and said she was failing some classes. “The counselor at Towson …

Flag as irrelevant
My Son Was Murdered At Sandy Hook––Please Help Me Prevent This From Happening Again

Scary Mommy

Students, educators, and parents also need to learn the warning signs of someone in danger of harming themselves or others, and when to reach out …

Flag as irrelevant
Getting control of a boy

CBC.ca

A mother who agreed to put her troubled son into the custody of child protection workers when he … On another occasion, the harm was self-inflicted.

Flag as irrelevant

Family Moves From Arkansas to Support Trans Teen Amid State’s Transition Surgery Ban

Newsweek

She said that it is “incredibly damaging for a child” when their legislature is fighting against them. Advocates and health experts in Arkansas fear the …

Flag as irrelevant
Coordinated Community Response: Why Children Remain Silent about Sexual Abuse

Door County Pulse

Regardless of the type of abuse a child experiences, most children feel … By lowering children’s self-esteem, they make children hesitant to tell their story … Threats can include physical harm to the child, the child’s parents, siblings, …

Flag as irrelevant

7 Self-Defense Moves Every Child Should Know

Moms.com

A kid learning how to box. As a parent, it is natural to want to keep your child safe from all harm. Unfortunately, this is not always possible to …

Flag as irrelevant
Immigrant children explain in an interview with a lawyer that a temporary US shelter is in poor …

Eminetra

Welch reported that several migrant children reported suicidal ideation and selfharm among other adolescents, and some of the minors interviewed …

Flag as irrelevant
Rigby middle school victims eligible for compensation

Post Register

“[Kids at this time] are at an elevated risk for suicide, selfharm and increased levels of violence,” said Tower. “The recovery phase takes years.”.

Flag as irrelevant
We owe it to our kids to put an age limit on social media – TechCrunch

California News Times

Online bullying And Body dysmorphic disorder When the problem goes off the chart self harm And Suicide rate When it explodes Rape culture It is …

Flag as irrelevant

‘Degrading, harmful, inappropriate’: Human Rights Commission criticises continued use of ‘secure …

Stuff.co.nz

They included children making threats to harm themselves or others. But “only a small minority of children appear to have actually done something, …

Flag as irrelevant
Narcissistic people aren’t just full of themselves – new research finds they’re more likely to be …

The Conversation US

Aggression is defined as any behavior intended to harm another person … narcissism, they should give unconditional warmth and love to their child.

Flag as irrelevant
Students need a safe return to the classroom, now

The Bay Observer – Providing a Fresh Perspective for Hamilton and Burlington

Bruce Squires, President of McMaster Children’s Hospital and Chair of the Board of Directors … More and more, we are seeing this result in selfharm.

Flag as irrelevant
Bullyed child finds unconventional freedom in “heaven”

Illinois News

heaven, Once again, cut my funk straight. heaven A raw, painful, gentle portrait of adolescent misery, reminiscent of both Elena Ferrante’s fiction and Bo …

Flag as irrelevant

Cameron Henley-Fridmanis watched materials featuring sadism, bestiality and child abuse

The Advertiser

By the later years of primary school he was engaging in self harm – once trying to poison himself in a suicide attempt. “Bullying was a constant …

Flag as irrelevant
Demand for children’s mental health services in Kent sharply rises amid Covid

The Isle of Thanet News

Under this, some youngsters are facing higher levels of anxiety while others have engaged in selfharm. Earlier today, the governing body of Kent and …

Flag as irrelevant
How parents can talk to children about our mental health

Mental Health Today

Insults such as ‘mental’ are still thrown around in playgrounds while issues such as eating disorders and selfharm in young people are often labelled …

Flag as irrelevant
Homemaking: On Olivia Sudjic’s “Asylum Road”

lareviewofbooks

He asked me about my parents, their ethnicity, and I said I was the child of a … Certain teachers looked up from the list in horror — as if I myself was … but much later, Anya reclaims agency in other acts of selfharm and destruction.

Flag as irrelevant

Kingston community speaks out against child psychiatrist charged with historic sex crimes

Kingstonist

A Form 1 can only be completed by a physician if the patient is suffering from a mental disorder where there is a likely risk of harm to self, harm to …

Flag as irrelevant
Opinion: End—Don’t Move—Solitary Confinement

New Haven Independent

Solitary confinement destroys individuals like myself and leaves people with … some of them chained up while still bleeding from selfharm or officer assaults. … We can’t even aid our own child, because we need aid ourselves.

Flag as irrelevant
On Sorry Day, how many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are behind bars?

Croakey

… to dramatically cut the number of young people in detention, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. See Marie McInerney’s report …

Flag as irrelevant
No red flags for missing children, inquest hears

Riverine Herald

… again” he said he did not take that as a threat of selfharm or harm to the children, rather a threat that she would not see them again after a dispute.

Flag as irrelevant
Facing the Monster

Adventist Review

I was the only Spanish-speaking child in my elementary school in … This self-hatred is the catalyst that leads to causing someone else harm.

Flag as irrelevant
CG’s Free Webinars To Help Parents In Pandemic

Bernews

The series caters to parents seeking support for themselves and offers them … and screen time and ways to help children return to post-pandemic life. … June 24th at 1pm: Screen Time, Social Media and SelfHarm, Tuesday, July …

Flag as irrelevant

One of UK’s worst paedophiles who targeted 5000 boys has jail term increased

Metro

David Wilson, 37, was jailed for 25 years in February after pleading guilty to 96 child sex abuse offences against 51 boys (Picture: PA) … wrecked lives, ruined relationships, caused them to selfharm and made them feel suicidal.

Flag as irrelevant
“Changing the Game” for Trans Athletes

Patheos

The trans athletes profiled are good kids, and they’re lucky to have … He speaks candidly of his struggles with selfharm related to his gender …

Flag as irrelevant
WEB
Cutting, Not Coping: SelfHarming & A Daughter’s Cry for Help

Healthy Balance – UVA Health

What should you do, and not do, if your teen is cutting? Read Holly’s story and more in the latest Vim & Vigor, our family health magazine.

Flag as irrelevant
Amid Rising Child Self-Harm Boris Appoints ‘Mental Health Ambassador’ – Opera News

Daily Advent

Elva Etienne/Getty Amid record-high deaths from alcohol, an increase in reports of children committing selfharm, and more people experiencing …

Flag as irrelevant
LIVE: Suicidal behavior and selfharm. Conversation with child psychiatrist Nikita Bezborodov …

Baltics News

Together with child psychiatrist Nikita Bezborodov in the conversation cycle “Diagnosis of behavior? It’s not that simple!” The conversation on …

Flag as irrelevant

#childsuicide #selfharm #kidsatriskaction #kara