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Name-calling hurts -- especially when the person doing it is a parent, a teacher, or a coach. Hollering and flashing
your temper might strike you as a natural and effective form of discipline if you were brought up with it. But for children
it may cause emotional trauma that results in long-lasting harm. Among other things, verbal abuse can undermine your child's
self-esteem, damage his ability to trust and form relationships, and chip away at his academic and social skills. In fact,
current research shows that verbal abuse of children can be just as destructive emotionally as physical and sexual abuse and
puts them in as much risk for depression and anxiety.
But it is not only verbal abuse that destroys children. Emotion abuse causes them many problems............some
of which they never overcome. The Categories of Emotional Abuse that is often directed against children are Listed below:
Rejecting
Putting down a child or youth's worth or putting down
their needs. Methodology of this:
constant criticism
name-calling
telling child he/she is ugly
yelling or swearing at
the child
frequent belittling-use of labels such as "stupid", "idiot"
constant demeaning jokes
verbal humiliation
constant
teasing about child's body type and/or weight
expressing regret the child wasn't born the opposite sex
refusing hugs and loving gestures
physical
abandonment
excluding child from family activities
treating
an adolescent like she/he is a child
expelling child from family
not allowing youth to make own reasonable choices
Isolating
Keeping a child away from family and friends.
leaving child in room unattended for long periods
keeping child away from family
not allowing child to have friends
not permitting child interaction with other children
keeping
child away from other caregiver if separated
rewarding child for withdrawing from social contact
ensuring child looks and acts differently than peers
isolating child in closet
insisting on excessive studying and/or chores
preventing youth participating in activities outside the home
punishing youth for engaging in normal social experiences
Ignoring
Failing to give any response to or interact with a child
or youth at all.
no response to infant's spontaneous social behaviours
not accepting the child as an offspring
denying required health care
denying required dental care
failure to engage child in day to day activities
failure
to protect child
not paying attention to significant events in child's
life
lack of attention to schooling, etc.
refusing to discuss youth's activities and interests
planning
activities/vacations without adolescent
Corrupting
Encouraging a child or youth to do things that are illegal
or harmful to themselves.
rewarding child for bullying and harassing behaviour
teaching racism and ethnic biases
encouraging
violence in sporting activities
inappropriate reinforcement of sexual activity
rewarding child for lying and stealing
rewarding
child for substance abuse and sexual activity
supplying child with drugs, alcohol and other illegal substances
promoting illegal activities such as selling drugs
teaching and promoting prostitution
Exploiting
Giving a child or youth responsibilities that are far
greater than a child/youth that age can handle. It is also using a child for profit.
infants expected not to cry
anger when infant fails to meet a developmental stage
child expected to be 'caregiver' to the parent
young child expected to take care of younger siblings
blaming
child or youth for misbehaviour of siblings
unreasonable responsibilities for jobs around the house
expecting youth to support family financially
encouraging
participation in pornography
sexually abusing child or youth
requiring child or youth to participate in sexual exploitation
Terrorizing
Causing a child
or youth to be terrified by the constant use of threats and/or intimidating behaviour. This includes witnessing, which is
when a child or youth observes violence, hears violence, or knows that violence is taking place in the home.
with infants
and children, excessive teasing
yelling and scaring
unpredictable and extreme responses to child's behaviour
extreme verbal threats
raging, alternating
with periods of artificial warmth
threatening abandonment
beating family members in front of or
in ear range of child
threatening to destroy a favourite object
threatening to harm a beloved pet
forcing child
to watch inhumane acts against animals
inconsistent demands on the child
displaying inconsistent
emotions
changing the 'rules of the game'
threatening that the child is adopted
and doesn't belong
ridiculing youth in public
threats to reveal intensely embarrassing traits to peers
threatening to kick adolescent
out of the house
The Longterm Effects on Children Living with Verbal/Emotional Abuse'
Physical Effects
» speech problems
» lags in physical development
» failure
to thrive (especially in infants)
» facial tics
» eating disorders
» substance abuse
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