AAP News Vol. 14 No. 4 April 1998, p. 7
© 1998 American Academy of Pediatrics
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zanga, J. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Child abuse prevention demands more than just a 'special month'

Joseph R. Zanga M.D., FAAP1

1 FAAP President, American Academy of Pediatrics

Dear Colleagues,

Someone once determined that there were more specially designated "days," "weeks," and "months" than there are days, weeks and months in the year. April, however, should speak to us in a somewhat special way. It is, after all, the time of Passover and Easter. It's the start of spring, and, of increasing importance, April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Child abuse is as old as Romulus and Remus in ancient Rome, and has antecedents to our modern problem in ancient primitive tribes where those unneeded/unwanted members of the society were disposed of, usually by their own families. Senilicide and infanticide were not uncommon.