Running the Gauntlet

There’s the bell for first class. Walk slowly. Time it just right and maybe you ‘ll be the last one to sit down at your desk. Pretend you don’t hear them.

“Faggot.”
“Dyke.”
“That’s so gay.”
“No homo.”
“Tranny.”
“She-male.”

At least once during the day, LGBTQIA+ students, a reported estimated 1.3 million high school students identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, will hear an epithet casually and purposefully thrown at them, intending to hurt, belittle, ridicule.  An excellent article in The Seattle Times, Aug 12, 2016,”Heartbreaking” is a survey on abuse of gay students” by Jan Hoffman with additional Federal data, reports:

The first nationwide study to ask high school students about their sexuality found that gay, lesbian and bisexual teenagers were at far greater risk for depression, bullying and many types of violence than their straight peers.

“I found the numbers heartbreaking,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, a senior official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which includes a division that administered the survey.

These adolescents were three times more likely than straight students to have been raped. They skipped school far more often because they did not feel safe; at least a third had been bullied on school property. And they were twice as likely as heterosexual students to have been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property.

More than 40 percent of these students reported that they had seriously considered suicide, and 29 percent had made attempts to do so in the year before they took the survey. A conservative estimate is 1,500 LGBTQIA+ commit suicide every year. The percentage of those who used illegal drugs was many times greater than their heterosexual peers. While 1.3 percent of straight students said they had used heroin, for example, 6 percent of the gay, lesbian and bisexual students reported having done so.

Look at these statistics!  They are heartbreaking and horrifying. Understand that 1.3 million people who report to be LGBTQIA+  is roughly the population of Los Angles, California.  Our children are daily engaged in warfare at school without any armor or protection—and for many who come “out” to parents, are kicked out of their home to fend on the street for themselves. Dr. Mermin, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at the C.D.C., said it better than I:  “Nations are judged by the health and well-being of their children. Many would find these levels of physical and sexual violence unacceptable and something we should act on quickly.”

What we can do as peers, parents, teacher, mentors, and our community is give support through educating our youth in the home and classrooms about basic issues of how to respect one another as human beings and not as ‘others’.  With the ubiquitous internet and social media, it is imperative to teach our youth hard core values; to be very clear what is bullying and not acceptable behavior towards anyone for any reason.  If not in the home, then at school. There are excellent programs, like Green Dot etc., used by the Air Force, that effectively teach strategy for violence prevention, and what to do as a bystander in bullying and violent situations.

As Dr. Mermin stated emphatically “connectedness -- or social bonds -- to peers, teachers, schools, or community organizations is key to protecting the health of these adolescents. Students will succeed if they know they matter, and feel safe and supported socially, emotionally and physically. Solutions may not be simple, but we can take action to build support for lesbian, gay and bisexual youth at multiple levels.”

I have written several articles emphasizing the need, and the rights of our children to be safe from bullies—-and I especially feel we have an imperative to protect the most vulnerable of our children—-those who are harassed for being different, either racially or because of one’s sexual orientation.  We need to have a continuous dialogue with our children, our family members and community, to talk honestly about bully issues.

To gain insight into the reality of a child being LGBTQIA+ in their daily arena, please take some time to explore websites like:

• Human Rights Campaign: Advocating for LGBTQ Equality
• US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• MedlinePlus
• Live the Green Dot
• speakforthem.org

Read an excellent article by Kevin L. Nadal, PhD "Stop Saying “That’s So Gay!”: 6 Types of Microaggressions That Harm LGBTQ People" for an enlightening perspective.

Ask yourself what would this world be like without the diversity, talents and skills that the LGBTQIA+ have given us since the beginning of mankind?  The list I could make of the contributions in arts, sciences, politics and humanity of the LGBTQIA+ would be  awesome in its breadth and sheer numbers of people who have influenced and enriched our lives in spite of the obstacles, the prejudices and hostility they have endured.

It is imperative that we, every one of us, ensure that our children, all our children, thrive in a environment that is safe and respectful, especially for the most vulnerable of children, the ‘others’, who are targeted for being different, for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, intersexual or questioning. Too many of these children are at risk everyday of their lives. Tomorrow will be too late for many of them. Today, not yesterday, not tomorrow, but today, is the time to stop the cycle of abuse.

L - Lesbian. Lesbian is a term used to refer to homosexual females.

G - Gay. Gay is a term used to refer to homosexuality, a homosexual person, or a homosexual male.

B - Bisexual. Bisexual is when a person is attracted to two sexes/genders.

T - Trans. Trans is an umbrella term for transgender and transsexual people.

Q - Queer/Questioning. Queer is an umbrella term for all of those who are not heterosexual and/or cisgender. Questioning is when a person isn't 100% sure of their sexual orientation and/or gender, and are trying to find their true identity.

I - Intersex. Intersex is when a person has an indeterminate mix of primary and secondary sex characteristics.

A - Asexuality. Asexuality is when a person experiences no (or little, if referring to demisexuality or grey-asexuality) sexual attraction to people.

+ - The "+" symbol simply stands for all of the other sexualities, sexes, and genders that aren't included in these few letters.

website:  lgbtqiainfo.weebly.com

Talking to Your Kids About Consent, Power, & Sexuality

Want to Prevent Sexual Assault on College Campuses? Let's Start With Our Kindergarteners
by Krista Millay, Feminist, Social Justice Advocate, and Mother

There is a major problem with looking to colleges and universities to solve the problem of campus sexual assault. If there's any truth in the statistic that one in four undergraduate women are sexually assaulted during their university experience, then waiting until students arrive on campus is too late to start the prevention work. The conversation about healthy sexuality, consent, and bodies must start earlier - as early as kindergarten.

This early education could equip our children to have healthy relationships as young adults, changing the culture of college campuses across the country. But, equally important, it would also give children the language and skills to get assistance when an interaction is inappropriate right now, whether that interaction is with a friend or a perpetrator.

My university work around prevention has caused me to slow down and become aware of the unspoken assumptions we make about children's bodies, to start connecting the daily conversations I have with my children about body parts and hugs and kisses to the outcomes I wish for the college students whom I educate. As a parent, it occurs to me that there is something better we parents and educators can all do right now. We can begin to think differently about how sexuality, bodies, power, and consent are communicated, starting as early as kindergarten.

Read the entire article on HuffingtonPost.com>>


10 Ways To Talk To Your Kids About Sexual Abuse
by Sandra Kim

The idea of someone molesting your child is terrifying for any parent (unless the parent is the child molester, which is 37% of the time).

The pain, fear, and trauma they may experience at such a young age are frightening to consider. It’s enough to make any parent freak out and want to never ever think about it again.

And then we hope it will just never happen to our own child.

Except your daughter has a 1 in 4 chance and your son has a 1 in 6 chance of being molested before the age of 18.  Children with disabilities are 2.9 times more likely than children without disabilities to be sexually abused.

I know you don’t want to hear it or believe it. But it’s true.

And these statistics are too high for any parent to risk staying uninformed about the reality of child sexual abuse and not talking to their child about it.

On top of that, the majority of children never report sexual abuse when it’s happening. They’re often afraid of their parents’ reactions or fear getting into trouble. They don’t know how to explain what happened to them or believe what the abuser told them to keep them quiet.

Now, you can never protect your child fully from ever being molested. But you can do a lot to reduce your child’s vulnerability to sexual abuse and increase the chances they’ll tell you after something happens.

You just need to talk to them directly about it and do it many times.




Read the entire article on EverydayFeminism.com>>

Shame on You!

It is interesting to me how in one week I have read two articles, extreme in opposite of content; one about shaming children on social media, by Robbyn Peters Bennett in the Sunday, August 23, 2015, edition of Seattle Times and another from the writer Susan Sontag’s journal, “Don’t Reprimand Him Harshly", published in the July/August 2015 issue of Reader’s Digest. Both articles speak to parenting skills; one highlights the most damaging form of discipline, public shaming by bully parents, the other, a mother’s eleven commandments on how to discipline her son, while respecting his personhood.

My favorite from Susan Sontag is number one: “Be consistent.” I had an informal discussion with a group of women who were mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers, and unanimously all agreed that consistency was foremost in establishing authority with children. That is a concept easy to put down into words but hard to achieve. But, oh so necessary to establish a parent/child relationship. Not only are daily routines important for the child, but for the parent as well, to create boundaries and develop skills for children to learn to live in the world within and outside of the home.

The other question I had put forth to the group of women was, “How did you cope with temper tantrums?” An angry child in the throes of a fit can trigger hurtful words or harsh punishment from a caregiver. Children under the age of three are the most vulnerable for child abuse; this is the age when children have a compelling need to become independent, but no skills to negotiate. A parent often times ends up in an escalating war of words and wills; frustrated beyond endurance. You find yourself in a situation where you have lost authority and how do you re-establish it?

It is a critical time to show by example how to deal with a negative situation. In the best scenario, this is without resorting to physical punishment. In one instance a parent, pressed for time, had gotten into a habit of yelling at her child to turn the TV off, get your shoes on, let’s go! One day, after the threats did not work, the tantrum began when the TV was turned off, the parent stopped screaming back and said simply, “I am taking this mad and throwing it out the door. I don’t want to be mad at you.” She opened and shut the front door; took a step back. Her child did the same, with a little bit more drama. In that moment, both parent and child learned a coping skill; not always effective, but a stepping stone to better communications in a softer voice, and it broke a habit of negative interaction.

Another parent told of the nightly battle of the bath. One night the father simply scooped the child up, clothes and all, and both of them took a shower. Messy but efficacious. You do not have to give in to your child’s demands, nor use physical punishment to discipline a child to change the behavior.

Most of us agreed that the best and hardest thing to do is walk away (making sure the child is in a safe spot) and leave the erupting child to fizzle out; and always speak in a low voice, never labeling a child with words like ‘stupid’, ‘brat’, ‘disgusting’; it is the behavior you do not like, not the child. That is a big distinction, especially for older children, and basically anyone. I am not going to listen to you when you don’t like me.

There is a fine line between parental authority and bullying; shaming a child publicly crosses that line. The worst crime committed is when the parent uses shame as a weapon of choice and the worst example I can think of a bully is the parent posting a ‘shaming the kid’ on social media. Public shaming is not a new tactic, but posting it on the internet is condemning someone to a lifetime sentence; anyone posted on social media is there forever.

Shaming is wrong in any form, but especially in front of others; it is physiologically damaging and physically painful for anyone to feel the toxic effects of shame. One parent’s posting on YouTube drove a thirteen-year-old girl to suicide when her father made a video of cutting her “beautiful” hair off and scolding her. It is not cute, it is not funny, it is not effective. Perhaps the young girl knew better than her parents that what they had done is make her shame visible for the rest of her life—and the only way out for her was to have no life.

Our role as parents is to protect our children; our children should not need to be protected from us. Posting an image of shaming a child breaks a fragile line of trust between parent and child, and the consequences can be everlasting. In an interview with Michael Shaughnessy in 2010 for www.EducationNews.org, we discussed cyberbullying, and the consequences of posting inappropriate text and pictures that cannot be deleted. That compromised image of your child being shamed and posted on the internet stays in cyberspace forever—and can be seen by a college recruiter, a potential employer, or anyone doing a search for information on your child.

The whole thing about raising children is ensure they get to adulthood with skills to live on their own. So, it is by example that parents and caregivers show children how to behave and cope with the process of living. If you show respect for yourself and others, your child will know respect; if you disregard another’s feelings, especially with bully tactics, you will teach your child to be a bully. And that child will teach his or her children to be bullies….on and on and on….

Review: When Dating Becomes Dangerous

As a parent myself, I understand how difficult it can be to talk to your children about dating and sex, not to mention abuse or rape. But we must remember that we are our child’s most important advocate and these challenging conversations are vitally important to our child’s healthy sexual and emotional development.

• So, exactly how do you explain to your teen that excessive anger, coercion, violence or abuse are NOT signs of love?
• How do you model personal boundaries and healthy relationships?
• How do you explain date/acquaintance rape?
• What are the warning signs that your teen is in an abusive relationship?
• How do you communicate the warning signs to your teen BEFORE he/she begins dating?
• What do you do and say if your teen is the abuser?
• When do you take action to help your child who is in an abusive relationship?
• Why do teens stay in abusive relationships and how can you help your child break up with an abuser?
• When do you need to get outside help and where can you turn?

If you need specific information and guidance on these topics and more, look no further than the new book When Dating Becomes Dangerous: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Relationship Abuse. The authors are parents and experts in this field. Patti Occhiuzzo Giggans, MA, is the executive director of Peace Over Violence, a national organization that provides education, advocacy, and intervention on the issues of sexual and personal violence. Barrie Levy, MSW, is the author of several books on teen dating violence including In Love and in Danger: A Teen’s Guide to Breaking Free of Abusive Relationships.

When Dating Becomes Dangerous is easy to read, informative, and an excellent source of conversation starters. The many case studies, specific examples, checklists, anecdotes, and detailed responses to interviews with parents and teens provide topics for conversations and encourage you to help your teen think about her/his own experiences as well as definitions of abusive behavior and healthy relationships. The chapter on “Strengthening Your Relationship With Your Teen” can help you set your own boundaries, understand your feelings, accept your teen’s right to make choices, and, especially, learn how to listen and engage your teen effectively. The book also includes information on technology abuse, same-sex relationships, working through the break-up process, and how to use the legal system should it become necessary.

According to the authors, “What we address are the contradictions in the way men and boys have been raised and the way that women and girls have been taught to deal with relationships. We want families to have conscious conversations about what is expected in intimate relationships, rather than going by social or cultural platitudes. There is a difference in feeling angry and making somebody suffer because of it. We are teaching ways to handle frustration in productive manners instead of using violence.”

Want to know more? Listen to an interview with the authors in this podcast from February 2014 or purchase the book on Amazon

Be a Resource for a Teen to Encourage Healthy Sexual Development

Did you know that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “In the United States, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men have been raped in their lifetime and nearly 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men have experienced other forms of sexual violence at some point in their lives.” Sadly, most “sexual contact without consent” experiences happen before a teen’s 18th birthday.

 This year’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month campaign focuses on healthy sexuality in teens as a way to prevent sexual assault: “Your Voice. Our Future. Prevent Sexual Violence.”  It’s all about teens understanding what a healthy sexual relationship looks like and who to turn to when you have questions or need help. It’s trusting in your ability to make your own decisions about your body and how to express yourself to your partner. It’s setting personal boundaries and respecting the boundaries of others. It’s understanding your rights and responsibilities in a relationship. It’s knowing how to separate fact from fiction in the messages you receive from peers, the media, and the internet. It’s finding adults and community resources you can trust.

How can YOU be a resource for a teen in your life?

• Model healthy sexuality and relationships
• Listen more and talk less
• Believe what your teen is sharing about sexual relationships and any problems
• Find ways to casually chat about the negative messages teens receive from the media and peers
• Explain how to set personal boundaries and respect the boundaries of others
• Be sure the teen knows what consent means and how to handle uncomfortable or difficult situations
• Share age-appropriate information about dating, contraception, STIs, date rape, domestic violence, and relationships
• Find out more: Overview of Adolescent Sexual Development (PDF) and for teens Safe Sex(uality): Talking About What You Need and Want (PDF)

If you or someone you know needs help: Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1.800.656.HOPE for free, confidential, 24/7 assistance. You can also speak to someone via the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline 

If you are supporting someone who has experienced sexual assault: the RAINN (Rape, Abuse &Incest National Network) website has information on how to help a loved one and tips for family and friends of survivors. 

DenimDay is Wednesday, April 23, 2014! Wear jeans to school, work, or around town to help raise awareness about the misconceptions surrounding sexual assault.

What is Love?

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (find out more at teendvmonth.org). One in three young people experience some form of abuse from a dating partner. The alarming new trend among teens is digital dating abuse. Below, author and parent advocate Sue Scheff shares some specific advice on the signs of digital dating abuse and how to protect yourself.

"Digital dating abuse is the use of technologies such as texting and social networking to bully, harass, stalk or intimidate a partner. Often this behavior is a form of verbal or emotional abuse perpetrated online. In a healthy relationship, all communication is respectful whether in person, online or by phone. It is never ok for someone to do or say anything that makes you feel bad, lowers your self-esteem or manipulates you." Read the entire article on her blog>>

More Information About Prevention, Advocacy and Recovery from Sexual Abuse

• Website - Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website: "Links public state, territorial, and tribal sex offender registries [into] one national search site...[also] provides visitors with information about sexual abuse and how to protect themselves and loved ones from potential victimization."
• Website - Joyful Heart Foundation: "Our mission is to heal, educate and empower survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, and to shed light into the darkness that surrounds these issues...Healing & Wellness, Education & Awareness and Policy & Advocacy."
• Article - American Academy of Pediatric's Parent Tips for Preventing and Identifying Child Sexual Abuse: "In most cases, the person who sexually abuses a child is an adult or older child known to the victim, often an authority figure that the child knows, trusts or loves. The offender usually uses coercion and manipulation, not physical force, to engage the child."
• Website - Stop It Now!: "National organization that provides direct help to individuals with questions or concerns about child sexual abuse, develops and distributes educational materials, and provides consulting and training services."
• Book - The Courage to Heal (20th Anniversary Edition) "An inspiring, comprehensive guide that offers hope and a map of the healing journey to every woman who was sexually abused as a child--and to those who care about her...provide clear explanations, practical suggestions, and support throughout the healing process."
• Book - When Your Child Has Been Molested: A Parents' Guide to Healing and Recovery: "Thoroughly revised and updated edition of the best-selling guide for families of children who have been molested...includes current research and information on the nature and effects...as well as proven techniques for therapy, healing, and recovery."
• Book - I Said No! A kid-to-kid guide to keeping your private parts private: "I Said No! uses kid-friendly language and illustrations to help parents and concerned adults give kids guidance they can understand, practice and use. [Uses] a simple, direct, decidedly non-icky approach that doesn't dumb down the issues involved."

More reading recommendations from advocacy organizations:

• RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network): Suggested Books & Movies
• Pandora's Project (Support and Resources for Survivors of Rape and Sexual Abuse): Recommended Reading List
• Parenting Safe Children: Resources for Parents

I Stopped to Smell a Rose

The most amazing thing happened to me the other day. I was sitting on the floor clasping a broken bowl that I had recently glued together when, within six inches of my nose, a big spider appeared. What was so extraordinary about this event was my reaction: I looked at it and said in a perfectly normal voice, “Go away, please.” No sonic scream, no paralyzing fear. For over 50 years, spiders made my life miserable, and the life of everyone who lived with me. One time my brother drove from Fremont to Alki beach on a work night to remove an invader from my bathtub; when I was pregnant and my husband was out of town, three spiders in my house spent the night without me to harass, as I went to a motel.

Arachnophobia dominated my life for so long. My fear was so intense, so physical that it rendered me insensible. My heart beat insanely and the pain surged throughout my body, my toes cramped, and I hyperventilated, not able to do anything. God forbid I touch or be touched (for surely I would die) by a horrible beast with furry legs and red eyes, that I could not kill to save my life. My husband would reach out and scoop up the offender and, with utmost gentleness, take it outside. I would obsess for days about another one lurking, hiding, awaiting the moment to persecute me. And quite frequently, especially in the fall, a spider would pop up too close for comfort and I would be in an anxious state for hours, disrupting my activities and sleep.

Enough I said, this has to stop. I went into hypnotherapy for other issues and one day casually mentioned that I had a fear of spiders, probably due to the admonitions of my parents to beware of the black widow spiders that live in dark corners. So now I am an adult and I know to be careful, so could we please address this issue and get some resolution? What ensued during the therapy was a big, jolting surprise.

I was allowed to walk home from kindergarten by myself. Neighbors would often call my name and wave to me as I passed their houses. One neighbor had a wonderful rose garden that would make me literally stop to look and smell the flowers. One day this neighbor invited me into his garage to show me a fantastic new rose; only what he showed me was not a flower. As I backed away, into a corner, I came to a stop underneath a black widow spider’s web.

It makes sense on so many levels that the fear I experienced, transferred onto spiders, is just like being bullied by a pedophile. Mine is not an isolated case, as it is reported that reported by the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW), 4 out of 10 children, both girls and boys, have experienced some form of sexual predation by adults and teenagers. And as is so often the case, the predator is someone the child knows.

What can a parent do to ensure a child’s safety? Foremost is communication between parent and child as well as developing trust.  We too often instill in our children that adults are to be respected and the child must behave nicely--that translates into “good boys and girls do what an adult tells them to do.” A child’s body and privacy, should always be respected, and never should that child be touched on his or her body, especially in the “bathing suit” areas. Reassure your child that that it is okay to say “no” to an adult who behaves inappropriately or to tell another adult if the child just feels “creepy” around the person. Be sure your child knows that it is okay to “tell on” an adult, and that you will listen without judgment no matter who the adult is. If there are signs of abuse, call 911 and report it. Unfortunately, many times nothing can be done for a variety of reasons; but, give and get support through therapy for the victim if you are certain that your child has been abused. Sexual predators are in our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and on the Web. As parents, it is our responsibility to protect our children by giving them the skills necessary for their well-being. Talk about appropriate/inappropriate behavior, and respecting one’s body and privacy as well as the difference between being polite and survival, getting away from an abuser by any means available. Monitor the computer and make sure your child is not being cyber-stalked. There are many websites available on the Internet for guidance and resources. Use them. It is in your child’s best interest.

The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) is an unprecedented public safety resource that provides the public with access to sex offender data nationwide. NSOPW is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Justice and state, territorial, and tribal governments, working together for the safety of adults and children.

• As many as 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually abused at some point in their childhood. 
• Most perpetrators are acquaintances, but as many as 47% are family or extended family. 
• In as many as 93% of child sexual abuse cases, the child knows the person that commits the abuse.
• Approximately 30% of cases are reported to authorities.
• Approximately 1.8 million adolescents in the United States have been the victims of sexual assault. 
• 33% of sexual assaults occur when the victim is between the ages of 12 and 17.
• 82% of all juvenile victims are female.
• 69% of the teen sexual assaults reported to law enforcement occurred in the residence of the victim, the offender, or another individual.
• Teens 16 to 19 years of age were 3 1/2 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.
• Approximately 1 in 5 female high school students report being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner.
• Approximately 1 in 7 (13%) youth Internet users received unwanted sexual solicitations.
• 4% of youth Internet users received aggressive solicitations, in which solicitors made or attempted to make offline contact with youth.
• 9% of youth Internet users had been exposed to distressing sexual material while online.
• 9.2% of cases of maltreatment of children in 2010 were classified as sexual abuse. 
• Over 63,000 cases of child sexual abuse were reported in 2010. 

Stop It Now! (website) has developed a warning signs tip sheet to help identify possible warning signs. Any single sign does not mean that a child was sexually abused, but the presence of several suggests that you should begin asking questions and consider seeking help.

Behavior you may see in a child or adolescent:

• Has nightmares or other sleep problems without an explanation
• Seems distracted or distant at odd times
• Has a sudden change in eating habits
• Refuses to eat
• Loses or drastically increases appetite
• Has trouble swallowing
• Sudden mood swings: rage, fear, insecurity, or withdrawal
• Leaves “clues” that seem likely to provoke a discussion about sexual issues
• Develops new or unusual fear of certain people or places
• Refuses to talk about a secret shared with an adult or older child
• Writes, draws, plays, or dreams of sexual or frightening images
• Talks about a new older friend
• Suddenly has money, toys, or other gifts without reason
• Thinks of self or body as repulsive, dirty, or bad

Scars in Our Brains

As anyone who has lived through a rough childhood can tell you, our brains remember much more than we realize they do. Learn more about some of the recent research into this area in this fascinating article from National Public Radio.

Childhood Maltreatment Can Leave Scars in the Brain
by Jon Hamilton, NPR Health News

Brain scans of teenagers revealed weaker connections between the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus in both boys and girls who had been maltreated as children, a team from the University of Wisconsin reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Girls who had been maltreated also had relatively weak connections between the prefrontal cortex the amygdala.

Those weaker connections "actually mediated or led to the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms by late adolescence," says Ryan Herringa, a psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin and one of the study's authors.

Maltreatment can be physical or emotional, and it ranges from mild to severe. So the researchers asked a group of 64 fairly typical 18-year-olds to answer a questionnaire designed to assess childhood trauma. The teens are part of a larger study that has been tracking children's social and emotional development in more than 500 families since 1994.

Read the entire article at http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/11/04/242945454/childhood-maltreatment-can-leave-scars-in-the-brain>>