I'm sick of my mom, scared for my brother, and don't know what to do. Please help!!

[Guest]

Hi, I'm 10 years old, and am really lost on what to do with my life. My mom physically abuses my brother who is only just turning 2. She spanks him 5 or so times for doing something as little as running into another room because he doesn't know the rules. I am very scared for him, but I don't know if he is being abused. My mom spanked my arm really hard once when I try to comfort my brother after he did something that's actually bad, and I don't want to be a part of the trouble my brother causes. My mom also yells really loud at me if I sometimes do something bad, and it makes me feel really scared. I don't know if this is child abuse or not, and what I can do to prevent it. Lastly, my mom spanks me also when I do things wrong, but it isn't more than once. My dad, on the other hand, spanks my brother gently, but doesn't do it very much. But, just yesterday, I got in a really heated up argument with him, and he threatened to spank me with a belt. This doesn't usually happen, and I'm starting to get really worried about my family. Should I run away, or try to cope? I don't know if I should run away because I come from a wealthy family, and I don't really know much about living on the streets even though I've read every single article on the topic. If I do end up running away, that won't help my brother. What should I do?

[ccsmod15]

Hello,

You mentioned some things that raise concern for your safety and well-being. If any harm or abuse is happening at home, you have the right to report it. We are not experts on the issue, but generally once it's been reported, social services will either decide whether or not to take the case and further investigate. If they do take the case, they will send out someone from child protective services to do an investigation (interviewing people in the household) and from there they will decide the level of danger within the household. It generally ranges from no danger (the youth stays in the home, some services are given, and the case is closed), moderate danger (they will provide family services with possible temporary displacement) and high danger (they will remove the youth from the home and offer certain services).

If you feel like this is an option you want to explore, you may find this website helpful: https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse/. We can also help you to file a report if that’s the route you are considering. You can call us at 1800-RUNAWAY or chat with us at www.1800RUNAWAY.org.

Please be safe and reach out soon by phone or chat so that we may help as we can only respond twice here.
Take care,
NRS