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abused and/or neglected last year, with more than 4,000 children in Buncombe County alone. It can be a fine line between bad parenting and abuse. For example, says McGuire, many parents feel that spanking is OK, “but if it goes beyond a swat” on the rear and leaves a mark, it’s abuse. “A parent might say to a child what they don’t really mean in the heat of the moment,” McGuire says. “But if a child hears things every day, like, ‘you’re stupid’ or ‘I wish you weren’t here,’ it’s abuse and it impacts the child’s selfworth and esteem.” Sexual abuse can also include exposing a child to porn or communicating messages sexual in nature by phone or Internet, adds McGuire. Neglect can include the withholding of medical or remedial care, living in a harmful environment, abandonment and/or a child who does not receive proper care, supervision or discipline. While some types of abusive behavior can’t be proved according to state child abuse law, all suspicions of abuse should still be reported and in some cases, reporting multiple times can lead to an intervention, says McGuire. “Even when a report can’t be substantiated, that doesn’t mean abuse didn’t occur — it just didn’t rise to the level of Child Protective Services (meet the state definition of abuse),” says McGuire. Also, many children are emotionally attached to their abusers, which may make the abuse seem less obvious. In some states, only those in professions serving children, such as teachers and doctors, are legally obligated to report suspected child abuse. But in North Carolina, anyone who suspects that a child is being abused or neglected must report to Child Protective Services as “mandated reporters,” says Amy Saunooke, family in-home supervisor at Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services. Reports can be made 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the reporter’s identity is confidential (unless ordered by the court to be released), she adds. When abuse is reported, the local Child Protective Services determines Continues on Page 16
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