Why is yelling and name calling spousal abuse, but not child abuse?

Question

my neighbors do this to their kids all day long, but I talked to asocail servies sectertary.. and she said not to report that, that is nothing compared to what she sees.

Answer 1

If it is something constant, report it. It is emotional and verbal abuse. I have lived through it. I'm 32 now and I still have a difficult time with anxiety from all the yelling - if someone raises their voice to me I flinch and shy away. A neighbor reported the screaming once, but back then there was not a moral or social consequence for it. I wish to God someone had done more. It has left psychological scars that have only begun healing (with wonderful friends and in therapy). I don't believe they will ever heal completely. That's why I hate when people say "Oh, but in the old days..." In the old days, nothing. People are still yelling at and smacking their children, just as they did then. It is sort of considered child abuse these days, but not nearly enough. We haven't come terribly far.

Thanks for bringing up the irony. I honestly believe that it should be a law not to emotionally abuse your children. It IS child abuse - and that others get away with it because the child is utterly helpless to help himself is despicable.

Answer 2

Unfortunately kids have lower standard then even some adults in areas.

Same goes with husbands. Most of the time if a woman verbally/emotionally abuses her husband--even physically--it goes unnoticed but if a man is doing this to his wife he's in big trouble.

I think CPS should expand. There are cases that do need serious attention and sadly there are too many violent priority cases to which they cannot be there for. Another thing that is alarming is verbal/emotional abuse doesn't pop up like a bruise. It can stay hidden away therefore CPS has no evidence to prove their case.. Sometimes verbal/emotional abuse is more damaging (mentally) then physical abuse.

Answer 3

Who says it isn't child abuse? Name calling is a form of child abuse. Yelling constantly is also a form of emotional abuse to a child. Both of which, if proven to Social Services/DCFS, can result in the child being taken out of the home and placed in another's care, although it is VERY difficult to prove. It takes lots of documentation and a child willing to blow the whistle on the parents they love, in spite of the treatment they are getting. Believe me, I know. Have 3 stepchildren who went through this and it took YEARS (like 10) for them to admit it was happening.
Abuse is abuse. Emotional/physical/verbal... to a child or a spouse.. it's ALL abuse.

Answer 4

It's verbal and emotional abuse. I would talk to another social worker and than report that one. Stuff like that can escalate as well and also turn into physical abuse. I applaud you for trying to make a difference not many people do these days

Answer 5

to answer your question, it is called 'spousal abuse' when it occurs among married couples.

Nevertheless, when it happens to a child, we called it 'child abuse'.

the definition of 'child' here refers to any children below the age of 13. hence, what about teenagers, then? Huh.

Verbal abuse CAN be reported to the police even, (Yup, i have done that). =)
it all depends on the helpfulness of them, how far they had go to rescue the children.

If you care enough to want to help the kids, really do it, find any way to report it to any possible authority. Publicize it to others. Allow the public by large to see beneath the masks of those parent/ parents.
Suggest a counsellor/ recommend one to those hot-tempered parents.

Answer 6

Because it's nothing compared to what she sees. Ever see a child with broken limbs at the hands of a parent? How about a child who has to wear black tights in the middle of summer to hide the bandages on the backs of her legs because her daddy wailed on her with the "strap" and left them a blooddied mess? Or the mom's who poision their children enough to keep having the child hospitalized in order for mom to get attention. Screaming and yelling are only the very tip of the iceberg.

Answer 7

It is called verbal abuse and sometimes it can do more damage then physical abuse. anyone that uses this type of abuse have very low self esteem and they try to make them self feel better by putting some one else down, and on the other hand some people are just plain @ssholes.

Answer 8

Name calling is emotional abuse and is usually seen in the same light as physical abuse.

Answer 9

Emotional abuse is child abuse. Your still hurting that child very much. Even if its not a bruise,it can hurt much longer and worse then a bruise.

Answer 10

I donno, that's retarded.

Almost as retarded as the fact that parents that refuse to pay child support, or get out of paying child support by under-the-table jobs aren't considered child abuse either...

Report it, regardless of what CPS tells you. She has to report it if you tell her to, regardless of what she says, its the law.

One thing that people have to realize though, is that CPS and other agencys set up to help abused people are there to help, they are not set up to be a solution. It's messed up, children need better solutions in stuff like this, including child support.

I have a resolved question on here about that: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoY5beYx2NTYA6aGmRXiJkDsy6IX?qid=20061208132746AAdCYwo

It really upsets me on the loopholes that deadbeat parents are able to jump through, think about it. If someone is on probation for something little, the court can force them to get a job as part of their probation, or they will go to jail, however, if they have three kids, and don't work, can't pay child support, they goto jail for 15 days or so, get out scott free, and don't have to pay anything but say $5 or so per child. The court doesn't force them to get a job. They need to start forcing these deadbeats to get a job that is taxable, and pay, or put them in jail until they do. If someone was in jail, but able to look for jobs, they'd get one within a week to get out of jail, period.