By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month, and there are several ways to help people in that situation.

Joe Vaughan, executive director at IHR, said the first thing you can do is watch children for changing activity or attitudes.

“It can be many, many things. With some kids, it can be aggression. With some kids, it’s withdrawing. Any type of behavior change. If you’re a teacher and you see a major shift in behavior or reaction to something, that’s a huge red sign. Kids that withdraw, who are usually bubbly and have a bold personality and suddenly, they’re sitting the back of the room and not talking to anybody, something is going on there,” Vaughan said.

Vaughan was a guest on a recent Community Forum, where he talks more about child abuse. That forum is available in the podcast section at wjez.com.