For thousands upon thousands of American children, addiction is more than an inconvenient condition. Drug abusing parents put their offspring through childhoods laden with neglect, abuse and violence. As substance continues to be the United States’ most daunting public health issue, the specific issue of parental drug abuse puts more kids in harm’s way every single day.

And the results can be fatal with kids who are more likely to use drugs, those who are “rebelling” against others because of the anger associated with a parent using drugs and the harm that is inflicted on innocent children who have to live with drug use in the home on a daily basis.

Effects of Substance Abuse On Young Children

Anti-drug advocates and law enforcement alike all see the devastating effects of drug abuse in families and communities across America. What we often don’t see are the blatant neglect and abuse cases that social workers run across every day as a result of parental drug abuse.

Whereas ten years ago, 60-75% of parental maltreatment cases may have been drug-related, some social workers today will tell you that up to 99% of their day-to-day work involves dealing with families torn apart by substance abuse and alcoholism.

Sadly, many of today’s jail and prison inmates are products of broken homes and underprivileged upbringings. Several studies exist today to prove the lasting effects of traumatic childhood experiences. In fact, a vast majority of experts believe that neglect, abuse and violence during childhood can produce:

-Substance abuse/addiction issues
-Severe immorality
-Criminality
-Violent and abusive tendencies
-Mental disorders

Unfortunately, a pattern has developed where children who have been neglected or abused in their early years simply repeat these activities themselves.

Neglect: A Deadly And Subtle Form Of Abuse

Most of the cases that social workers encounter where parental drug abuse is harming the family, children are seen to be neglected more than they are abused outright. This simply means that, though violence and sexual abuse are very real issues existing today, children with addicted parents more commonly endure childhoods of neglect.

In these cases, children in the home are left to fend for themselves and care for younger siblings. Horrifying instances of children left unfed, unbathed and with their diapers unchanged are reported every day. These cases of neglect rarely make headlines like cases of violence do, but there is no doubt that a neglected child endures trauma in the way an abused one does. However you look at it, parental drug abuse puts more kids in harm’s way than any other existing issue.

What Can I Do To Stop Parental Drug Use

Fortunately, programs exist in many communities that lend support to families struggling to make ends meet. Activity groups, playground watch teams and after-school care programs all exist for the purpose of ensuring no child feels neglected or not cared for.

However to handle the problem that is going on directly in the home there are several things that can be done. If you become aware of suspicious of a situation wherein you feel a child may be abused or neglected on a regular basis, do not sit back and let it continue to happen.

The only way we will make a brighter future for all is by strong intervention. Today’s children and teens will become tomorrow’s leaders. We literally cannot afford decades more of abuse and neglect. Help you loved ones get into drug treatment today, so their children may again have their parents in their lives.

For more about Narconon call us today at 800-468-6933.

Source: http://www.wvmetronews.com/news.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=55117