Daycare child abuse happens far too often but, by seeing the warning signs in advance, it can be stopped. Sometimes, the parents of children who aren’t actually the direct victims of abuse could do a lot to stop other children from being abused, but they don’t realize what they’re seeing in their children’s behavior are signs that the facility that they go to for daycare is abusive. Even if your child isn’t the direct victim of abuse, they may show the following behaviors.
Resistance to Going to Daycare
It’s common enough for children to not want to go to daycare. When they start acting terrified about the prospect, however, and when it seems like something is genuinely wrong with them when you want to take them to the daycare facility, it may be a sign that something is wrong at the facility. Look for acting out motivated by fear, intimidation or anger. These are all natural reactions to being at a facility that is abusive in some regard.
Age-Inappropriate Behavior or Knowledge
Children at abusive facilities will sometimes know that something wrong is going on but they won’t understand exactly about what’s going on is wrong. Parents should be wary for situations that involve the child seeming to know about subjects that they’re too young to understand or using language that is inappropriate for their age. Inappropriate touching of their peers, whether it’s violent or otherwise, is another sign that there may be something going wrong at the daycare.
Other Children
Before you even sign your child up for a daycare, make sure you stop in and see how the other children are doing. If they seem like they’re anything but happy to be there, you might want to reconsider. Not every child is going to be ecstatic about being away from their own home and at a daycare center, of course, but they should at least not seem miserable or, most certainly, they shouldn’t seem scared.
A daycare center can be a great resource for busy parents. When daycare facilities are negligent, however, they can be threats to children. If your child has been in a daycare that let abuse go on and if you and your child have suffered because of it, consider contacting a daycare abuse lawyer about filing a lawsuit for damages. You may stand to win substantial compensation from a jury award or settlement.