Oregon daily emerald., July 23, 1981, Page 3, Image 3

178 Lane County cases
Course views child abuse
By HEIDI SWILLINGER
Of EmaraM
The bruises on the baby's leg are purple,
running from the top of the thigh to well below the
knee
An accident, claims the mother — the infant
tell down the stairs
But the marks are on the inside of the leg, and
the faint but tell-tale impression of fingerprints
indicates the child has been abused
Nearly 2,000 cases of child abuse were
reported in Oregon last year, and 178 occurred in
Lane County
"This is not a problem that is relegated to the
uneducated poor," Gretchen Teeple told par
ticipants of the Child Abuse Workshop held at the
Valley River Inn Monday and Tuesday
Child abuse victims come from families of
every race, religion and socio-economic back
ground, she said
More than 100 people came from all over
Oregon to attend the two-day workshop, held
primarily for school and law enforcement officials
and others who work with abused children
Teeple, a counselor at Guy Lee Elementary
School in Springfield, joined Washington pedia
trician Shirley Cooke-Anderson in discussing
both the behavioral and physical indicators of
child abuse
The realm of child abuse is wide, Anderson
said It ranges from physical abuse to emotional
neglect to sexual assault
Physical indications of child abuse can be as
subtle as listlessness and consistent hunger or as
obvious as unexplained bruises, burns and frac
tures
But "children can be, and often are, phy
sically or sexually abused without ever showing a
mark or a scar. Anderson cautioned
Teeple advised workshop participants to pay
particular attention to children who are frightened
to go home, children who are wary of adult
contacts, and children who exhibit extreme ag
gressiveness or withdrawal
Victims of sexual abuse often use unaccep
table sexual language coupled with "a tone of
intense comprehension and clarity of meaning,"
Teeple said
Anderson suggested using a combination of
common sense and instinct to determine whether
or not a child has been abused
For instance, she said, there is a difference
between "clean dirt and dirty dirt If you have to
Graphic by Ma> DeRungs
air out a room (that a child’s just been in), that's
dirty dirt ”
Accident-prone children are a reality, but a
child who consistently has welts or lacerations in
various stages of healing should arouse
suspicion. Anderson said
Parents who respond inappropriately or
without concern to a child's wounds probably
should be questioned closely, she said And a
parent's explanation of an injury should be rea
sonable
"(A parent's) changing history to meet
questions is a very significant thing." she said
But according to Anderson, the easiest way
to determine whether or not a child has been
abused is to ask the child
"Just ask the question," she urged "The
answer may not be easy, but the question is."
Mike Lutz, supervisor of protective services
for Eugene and West Lane County, said his
agency will respond to any report of suspected or
actual child abuse
People sometimes fail to report incidents
because they can't provide proof, but the burden
of proof lies with the Childrens Services Division
and the police, not the person reporting the
incident, Lutz said
All the reporting party needs to do is be
concerned "
He said the privacy of anyone reporting child
abuse will be guaranteed up to the point of going
to court Anonymous reports are accepted but
not encouraged
People who suspect that a child has been
abused should call 686-7544
Palestinian groups blast
Israel’s ‘war of genocide’
A plea for all peace-loving
people to oppose the continu
ing Israeli war of genocide
against the Palestinian people"
headlined a Tuesday meeting
held by the Organization of Arab
Students and the General Union
of Palestine Students
• A lasting peace can only
come from a realization of
Palestinian rights to self deter
mination." said organization
spokesman Khalid Abdul-La
teel
Abdui-Lateel told a group of
about 20 that developments
since the 1978 Israeli invasion of
southern Lebanon have "en
dangered the problems relating
to any lasting peace settlement
(in the Middle East) "
The meeting was prompted by
r
Israeli air raids on Palestinian
targets Friday The bombings
resulted in an appeal by Pales
tinian members to the United
Nations Security Council urging
an end to the raids that have
claimed the lives of approxima
tely 400 Lebanese soldiers and
civilians
A statement issued Monday
night by Secretary of State
Alexander Haig saying the Unit
ed States will delay the ship
ment of 10 jet fighters to Israel
was dismissed by the OAS
GUPS organization as "insig
nificant "
Members of the Palestinian
student organization say that
Israel is ready to attack any Arab
state to stress Israeli domin
ance, and that this dominance is
backed by the United States
government
Referring to Haig s state
ment, Abdul-Lateel said, "We
would like to see such kind of
action but certainly don't see it
as any kind of significance as far
as a U S stand goes ”
He added that the delay was a
matter of "conducting policy"
on the part of the United States,
and that the F-I6s would likely
be sent at a later time
In a final statement made at
Tuesday's meeting, Abdul-La
teel spoke of “wanting to create
an alliance with any democratic
and peace-loving nations — any
groups that will oppose Israeli
expansionism, leading to the
realization of the mutual inter
ests of the Arab people "
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