Patients and Families

Child Abuse Prevention Tips

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC's Child Advocacy Center offers parents these tips for preventing child abuse:

Monitor your stress level. Find out where your frustrations lie and address them in some way. If you feel you are losing patience, call the Warmline at 800-641-4546. Family Resources, a non-profit organization that seeks to prevent child abuse by supporting families, offers the Warmline free of charge to parents who need to talk with someone about their frustrations.
Be cautious of new people you bring into the lives of your children – for example, babysitters or significant others – and understand how they will be caring for and treating your child.
Evaluate your use of substances such as alcohol. Understand how these substances change your decision-making ability or your personality. Do you yell? Do you hit? Does it change you in some other way?
Closely supervise your children while they are on the Internet. Even if you have parental controls set on your computer, many pornography sites still are accessible, and teens and pre-teens can easily access the sites’ chat rooms where they can meet people who may harm them.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Child Abuse Hotline at 800-932-0313. In an emergency situation, call your local police department or 9-1-1.

Last Update
September 11, 2008