How to Talk to Children About Domestic Violence
As I posted earlier this week, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Incidents of domestic violence occur all too often, and many times, children are present during or shortly after such incidents occur. Not only are these children traumatized by what they may see, it can affect them long term.
Attorney Lynne Z. Gold-Bikin of Wolf, Block, Shorr and Solis-Cohen in Norristown, PA points out that domestic violence does not start with adults, it's a learned behavior -- starting with children. She says
Source: "Talking to Kids About Domestic Violence" by Karin Phillips, KYW NewsRadio 1060.
Attorney Lynne Z. Gold-Bikin of Wolf, Block, Shorr and Solis-Cohen in Norristown, PA points out that domestic violence does not start with adults, it's a learned behavior -- starting with children. She says
"When you, as a wife, live in a home where you're abused with children, you need to think about what you're teaching your children. If the children see Dad hitting Mom to end an argument, the girls learn that that's the way arguments are ended and the boys learn that that's the way to end arguments."Ms. Gold-Bikin believes that it's important for parents to talk to their children about what types of behavior are (and are not ) acceptable, not just with girls but especially with boys. She says it's also crucial for teens who see boys abuse their girlfriends to step in and stop it. This is great advice that we can apply to help combat this ongoing problem.
Source: "Talking to Kids About Domestic Violence" by Karin Phillips, KYW NewsRadio 1060.
