What is Child Neglect?
Posted by PLB Registrar · Leave a Comment
While physical abuse tends to happen in specific instances or events, neglect tends to be more on-going.
Neglect often leaves no visible scars and therefore is more likely than physical abuse to go undetected. Furthermore, children may grow up believing that their circumstances are a normal way of life and therefore not seek assistance or confide information to anyone.
Neglect is the failure to give proper care or attention to a child across these areas:
- Physical – Failure to provide needed food, shelter or protection.
- Medical – Failure to provide necessary medical services.
- Educational – Failure to educate a child.
- Emotional – Inattention to a child’s emotional or psychological needs.
Neglect involves the caregiver’s inattention to the basic needs of a child, such as food, clothing, shelter, medical care and supervision. Living in poverty, in and of itself, does not mean that a child is being neglected. And, neglectful circumstances do not always mean a child is neglected.
- Consistently dirty, unwashed and/or hungry.
- Insufficiently dressed for the weather.
- Needing medical care .
- Improper dental care, loose teeth or infected gums.
- Begging or stealing food or money.
- Frequent absences.
- Losing or failure to gain weight.
Note that these individual signs of neglect may not be a reason for concern. When several of these signs are combined or appear repeatedly, there is an increased possibility of neglect.
From Professional Learning Board’s online continuing education course for teachers: Recognizing and Preventing Child Abuse
