In his book "Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family," researcher Dr. Murray Straus tells us that a child is statistically in more danger while in an American home than he or she is while standing in the middle of a busy street.

Violence is in every neighborhood and at every class level.   This is in part because our "child protection laws" don't yet honor the Constitutional 14th Amendment rights all citizens have from birth to "equal protection" under U.S. laws (which should include assault laws, by which even threatening violence is a criminal act).

Let's pledge to become more aware of the prevalence of violence in our society, particularly violence against children, and what we can do to prevent it.

There are multiple newsletters to which we can subscribe to learn more.   Among others, there are study summaries sent out as emailed bulletins by the U.S. Dept. of Health's "Child Welfare Information Gateway," (www.childwelfare.gov), to which you can subscribe by clicking here. 

There are also email updates sent out by websites like ZerotoThree.org, NoSpank.net, StopHitting.com and more.

Let's find out more about the patterns of violence against children so that we can also learn more about effective ways to prevent it.