An estimated 558,899 children (unique incidents) were victims of abuse and neglect in the U.S. in 2022, the most recent year for which there is national data. That’s 8 children out of every thousand. CDC & National Children’s Alliance.

1. Changes in “normal” or “routine” behavior. Abuse can lead to many changes in behavior. Abused children often appear scared, anxious, depressed, withdrawn or more aggressive.

2. Returning to earlier (reversion) behaviors. Abused children may display behaviors shown at earlier ages, such as thumbsucking, bedwetting, fear of the dark, or fear of strangers. For some children, even loss of acquired language or memory problems may be an issue.

3. Fear of going home. Abused children may express apprehension or anxiety about leaving school or about going places with the person who is abusing them or exhibit an unusual fear of a familiar person or place.

4. Changes in eating (wide swings of overeating or refusing to eat). The stress, fear, and anxiety caused by abuse can lead to changes in a child’s eating behavior, which may result in weight gain or weight loss.

5. Changes in sleeping (seen as trouble sleeping, insomnia). Abused children may have frequent nightmares or have difficulty falling asleep and as a result may appear tired or fatigued.

6. Changes in school performance and attendance. Abused children may have difficulty concentrating in school or have excessive absences, sometimes due to adults trying to hide the child’s injuries from authorities.

7. Lack of personal care or hygiene. Abused and neglected children may appear uncared for. They may present as consistently dirty and have severe body odor, or they may lack sufficient clothing for the weather.

8. Risk-taking behaviors. Young people who are being abused may engage in high-risk activities such as using drugs or alcohol or carrying a weapon.

9. Inappropriate sexual behaviors (mimicking what they’re seeing). Children who have been sexually abused may exhibit overly sexualized behavior or use explicit sexual language and may exhibit symptoms of a genital infection.

10. Unexplained injuries (injuries that don’t make sense). Children who have been physically abused may exhibit unexplained burns or bruises in the shape of objects. You may also hear unconvincing explanations of a child’s injuries.

Source https://www.childsafe-sa.org/resources/know-the-10-signs-of-child-abuse/

Matthew Thompson and Chad King are child welfare attorneys in the State of Mississippi. They have represented natural parents, foster parents, grandparents, other relatives, fictive kin, children and the Agency (Child Protection Services) throughout their decades of practice. (NOT all at the same time).