Psychological support to prevent child abandonment

Have you ever thought about the role we play as a society in protecting children? Schools and children’s social environments are key spaces for ensuring safe places where they can grow up free from fear. However, violence against children remains a silent and, in many cases, invisible reality. Today we address this issue on the International Day of Non-Violence and Peace in Schools.

Beyond its immediate impact, child abuse has deep and long-lasting consequences. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that it can lead to physical and mental health problems that persist throughout life, as well as social and employment effects that, in the long term, slow down countries’ economic and social development.

The WHO also notes that “violence against children creates inequalities in education. Children who have experienced some form of violence are 13% more likely not to complete their schooling.”

In this context, it is essential to provide families and educators with a sensitive and preventive perspective that helps identify indicators of violence, which often appear in subtle ways.

Invisible traces

There is a mistaken belief that violence is always expressed through obvious injuries or extreme behaviour. In reality, many children communicate their pain through small changes that may go unnoticed if we do not know how to interpret them. Warning signs can generally be grouped into three areas:

• Physical and psychosomatic manifestations

• Projections in play or drawing

• Psychological and emotional states

Physical or psychosomatic manifestations

A child’s body can become a channel of expression when they cannot find the words to explain what they are experiencing. Although not every physical sign necessarily indicates violence, they can be an important indicator when they appear repeatedly, without a clear explanation, or alongside emotional changes.

Unexplained bruises, scratches or fractures that do not match the explanation given, or that occur frequently, can raise concern. The key is not to assume the worst immediately, but to observe whether the explanation matches the injury, whether the child seems afraid when explaining what happened, or avoids talking about it.

Children experiencing violence may also present psychosomatic symptoms, such as frequent headaches, stomach pain, nausea, dizziness, sleep problems or constant fatigue without a clear medical cause. These symptoms often intensify at specific moments—for example, before going to school, returning home or meeting a particular person.

Changes in eating or sleeping habits can also occur. Prolonged stress may cause insomnia, night terrors or difficulty falling asleep.

Developmental regressions—such as bedwetting or sudden separation anxiety from a parent or caregiver—may also indicate that a child is going through a situation that is emotionally overwhelming.

Projections in play

Play is the natural space where children process their experiences. Through it, they express emotions, recreate situations they have lived through and show what they cannot verbalize.

Repeated play involving violent themes—aggression, domination, punishment or fear—may be a warning sign. Similarly, stories that include powerless characters who are constantly in danger may reflect the child’s own emotional state.

Drawings may also show signs of fear, isolation or harm. It is not about interpreting every drawing literally, but about noticing persistent patterns. Possible indicators include very small figures next to very large ones, missing hands or arms, predominant dark colours, scenes of confinement, blows or tears.

Emotions and mental health

Violence—especially when prolonged—changes how children perceive the world. Their alert system may remain constantly activated, leading to behaviours that can sometimes be mistaken for shyness, disobedience or lack of interest.

Hypervigilance is common. Children may startle easily, constantly observe their surroundings, closely monitor adults’ movements, struggle to relax or play freely, and feel afraid of making mistakes. Although hypervigilance is an adaptive response to danger, when sustained over time it affects learning, concentration and emotional well-being.

Emotional withdrawal is one of the most frequent and hardest signs to detect. It may appear as social isolation, loss of interest in activities they once enjoyed, limited emotional expression, short answers or avoidance of physical contact.

Children may also show sudden behavioural changes, such as irritability, disproportionate tantrums, aggression towards other children or difficulty following rules.

Acting through protection protocols

Detecting warning signs is only the first step. The next is acting responsibly and in coordination. Every school, social organisation or institution has protection protocols that establish how to respond when there is a suspicion or disclosure of violence.

These protocols ensure:

• The child’s safety

• Confidentiality throughout the process

• Intervention by specialised professionals

• Activation of support resources

• Communication with child protection services when necessary

At SOS Children’s Villages, we work from a comprehensive child protection perspective. We strongly believe that violence against children can be prevented when safe environments based on respect, dialogue and the active participation of children are created.

For this reason, we develop awareness, training and prevention programmes aimed both at children and the adults who accompany them. One example is the project “Safe Childhood: Prevention and Response to Peer Violence,” which seeks to empower children and young people to become active agents in creating safe environments.