Blueroomcare
Your parents don’t take care of you? There is no food? They never have time? Here’s info on what you can do.
What is neglect?
Children have rights and parents therefore also have duties. They must treat their children with sufficient love, attention and care, also provide them with “material things” such as enough food, clothing, medicine, etc. and create an environment in which the child can grow up healthily and develop its abilities freely.
If parents do not fulfill these duties over a longer period of time, this is called neglect. Neglect is prohibited because it endangers the health and development of children.
Examples of neglect
Examples of neglect are
- cold, unheated rooms in winter
- dirty, broken clothes
- no opportunity to wash
- no place to sleep
- not enough to eat and drink
- no one to be there for you
- being alone at home all the time
- no one cares if children go to school
- no support in case of problems
- no protection from possible dangers
- no loving affection
In no family does everything run perfectly. If the heating breaks down for a day, the clothes get dirty, the hot water doesn’t work or the parents don’t have much time for you for a few days, this is not neglect.
However, if a child is exposed to such unhealthy conditions over a longer period of time, e.g. over several weeks and months, this is called neglect.
The age of the child also plays a role. A 16-year-old, for example, can be expected not to need constant supervision and to prepare his or her own food.
Help for those affected!
If you recognise yourself in these examples, get help!
TIP:
Confide in someone!
Think about who is an adult in your environment that you can trust and who you feel you can turn to in such a difficult situation. This could be grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, adult siblings, (trusted) teachers, neighbors or the parents of a friend.
Counseling
If there is no one in your environment whom you can confide in or if you would rather talk to an outside person, then you have the possibility to turn to a counselor.
There you can first talk to someone about your situation and, together with this person, consider what possibilities there are to improve your situation.
TIP:
Do you know someone affected?
If you have the feeling that someone in your environment is affected by neglect, talk to a trusted adult about your suspicions! Tell them as much as possible about what you have observed. Together you can think about what to do next. One possibility is, for example, to involve a liaison teacher or to report the suspicion to the child and youth welfare services.
Well cared for but still unhappy
In everyday language, neglect often has another meaning. If things are stressful in a family, it can happen that although you are actually well cared for, you have the feeling that you are not getting enough. In this case, you should approach your parents and tell them that you miss spending time with them. Especially in stressful times, parents sometimes don’t notice that they hardly spend any time with their children. Only if you talk to your parents can they change things. Try to arrange fixed dates when you can do something together again.
For further help and support — Speak with a licensed therapist today.