Cat Fight In The Kitchen-Wattpad Rant

Tips for Writing Traumatic Backstories

I really thought people would be as sick of these rants as I am, but I get tons of requests for information. And, usually I say the same things over and over, but I've noticed that I always send people to different organizations (and thankfully a lot of people that ask for help also donate to these organizations), so I thought, why the hell not do a rant that answers these concerns and post the link where everyone that reads it can donate!?

So I'm posting the link to RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incent National Network). It's a wonderful organization with great information and a fabulous cause, so go donate. Do it now. Don't even read my: Tips for Writing Traumatic Backstories (that wasn't reverse psychology. That was serious).

1. Teachers are required by law to report suspected child abuse

At least in the United States they are. And of course my information is old (and I really shouldn't have to do all the recent research for everyone), but I know when I was in school a lot more cases got turned into DHS than the public knew.

I hate it so much when there is obvious signs a kid is being abused in these stories (they have bruises, they constantly miss school, they don't want to go home, they talk about their "drunk" abuser, etc) and when I ask the writers why a teacher hasn't reported it, the author always says "they don't want to get involved".

Well then they must want to trash their license, right? Because if someone else reports that and the teacher has never filed any sort of official record (usually they have to go to the principal and/or counselors to file a report) they lose their job.

It happened with my best friend. A doctor reported his case and our second grade teacher lost her job, our first grade teacher got put on leave, and my dad would have lost his had my best friend actually been an official student of his.  Only our Kindergarten teacher wasn't in trouble, because she had put her concerns in his official school record.

My dad did have to step down from his position as athletic director over me and he had nothing to do with it, and our substitute that had been taking over for our first grade teacher while she was on maternity leave lost her job.

If a kid is so bad they end up in the hospital (like a lot of these characters), shit goes down and everyone suffers, not just the abuser.

Granted, those were both pretty bad cases. But when I tell you that teachers have to report, I don't mean that DHS has to do anything. They might have gotten their act together by now, but when I was a kid, if you weren't in some sort of life threatening danger (as in frequent trips to the emergency room that typically required major surgery) DHS just made a few house visits, told your parents (or whoever) to get their shit together and moved on.

My dad has had to file countless reports with his principle and hardly any of them became a big deal, but they should have been. So, honestly, I hate when people try to write it off as "they don't want to get involved". Maybe the MC is being abused and DHS stops by every once in a while but never removes them from the home, but you cannot tell me that there is not a written record of suspicion at that school.

I have to turn in cases of suspected abuse when I substitute. Don't take the easy road out. Look up the state or country you're writing about and find the laws. There will be a paper trail somewhere if the abuse is even half as bad as these writers like to describe it.

2. There are some "typical" symptoms to watch out for

People are always asking me how their characters would react, because they're afraid of getting it wrong, and most of them are smart enough to realize that not everyone reacts the same way. That's great that you realize that, but I'll be blunt: there are "typical" signs and if you really don't know what you're doing, utilize them. They're not stereotypes or clichés. Studies show that they are the most common reactions.