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What You Should Know: No one has the right to abuse you. You don’t deserve to be abused. If you are being abused, you are a victim. It’s not your fault that you are being treated this way. It is wrong that you are suffering this pain, fear or sadness. You are not alone. Other kids suffer abuse, too. Sometimes abusers scare or threaten kids so they won’t tell. There are people who care about you and want to help you. If you are being abused, please tell a safe person – that’s someone you can trust like a teacher, counselor, school nurse, neighbor or parent. You can also talk to a Childhelp hotline counselor. CALL 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) then push 1 to talk to a hotline counselor. The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The hotline counselors work with translators who speak 170 languages to help callers who speak a language other than English. All calls are anonymous. (The Hotline counselors don’t know who you are and you don’t have to tell them.) How to protect yourself from abuse Do not be alone with anyone who hurts you. Listen to the little voice or gut feeling inside you when it says that what is being done to you isn’t right. Find an adult you trust and tell them what is happening. If they don’t believe you, keep telling other adults until someone does believe you! The adult you talk to about your abuse (perhaps a teacher or a neighbor) may want to tell the Police or Child Protective Services about the person who is hurting you. If they don’t know the telephone number to call to make the report, they should call 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) and press 1 to speak with a Hotline crisis counselor, who will give them the best number to call in your community. If you are too nervous or scared to tell someone you know about the abuse, but want it reported to the people who look into child abuse, call 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453), then press 1. A Childhelp Hotline counselor can make a three-way call so that you, the Hotline counselor, and the person taking the report in your area are all on the telephone at the same time. Before you call to make the report, the Hotline counselor can tell you what may happen after a report of abuse is made. A lot of people don’t realize it, but every day in the United States thousands of kids are abused. That adds up to millions of kids each year. More than 3.3 million in fact. Often children and teens are abused by the people who are closest to them like family, friends, sitters, neighbors and sometimes even teachers and coaches. These are the very people that children should feel the safest with. You are not alone. If you need help or have questions about child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) then push 1 to talk to a counselor. The Hotline counselors are there 365 days a year to help kids, and adults who are worried about kids they suspect are being abused. You can call this number if you live in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands. There WILL NOT be a charge for the call on your telephone bill if you use a regular phone or a pay phone. If you use a mobile phone or cell phone, there may be a charge and it may show up on the telephone bill. (Don’t use a mobile or cell phone if you want to be sure your call is a secret.) Do not make prank calls to the hotline. This will tie up the phones and keep us from talking to someone who really needs help right away.