What parents must do
What parents must doIn BC, a child is anyone younger than 19. A parent is a person responsible for a child’s care. They could be a child’s mother or father, a person given custody or guardianship of a child by court order or agreement, a relative or friend the child lives with, or an appointed guardian. The law says parents must:
- keep their children safe;
- take care of their children’s physical and emotional needs;
- get medical care for their children; and
- protect their children from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.
The law also says parents must not neglect their children.
What’s abuse?
Child abuse includes physical harm, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse.
- Physical abuse can be shaking, punching, or hitting a child. Any action that hurts a child or leaves a mark can be abuse. It also includes punishments such as locking a child in a room without food, water, or a toilet for a long time.
- Sexual abuse is anything sexual that happens between a child and an adult — or a much older child. It also includes when an adult threatens to have sex with a child. You can’t take sexual photographs or videos of a child. You can’t force or permit a child to watch pornography (movies or photographs about sex) or watch actual people having sex. It’s also illegal to let people have sex with a child.
- Emotional abuse is when parents hurt a child by often ignoring, criticizing, or yelling at them. Such abuse can make children feel very sad, nervous, and alone, or even make them want to hurt themselves. Sometimes, children live in a home where they aren’t physically hurt, but their parents hurt each other. This can also make children feel afraid, which could be emotional abuse.
If you experience family violence, you can get help from VictimLinkBC. See also Live Safe, End Abuse.
If the social worker believes you can’t protect or aren’t willing to protect your child from being abused or witnessing abuse, they can remove your child from your home and your care.
What’s neglect?
Neglect is when parents don’t give their child enough food, clothes, or medical care, or if a child doesn’t have a safe place to live. Other examples of neglect are when parents are drunk and drive with their child, or when they leave their child with someone who’s drunk or drugged, or let their child use drugs or alcohol. Neglect can also be when they leave their young child alone at home or in a car.
The law doesn’t say exactly how old a child must be to stay alone. But the court has said a child eight years old is too young to be left home alone. In general, young children shouldn’t be left alone. If your child is between 10 and 12 years old, think about these things when you decide if you can leave your child alone:
- How mature is your child?
- Where will your child be?
- Are responsible adults nearby if your child needs help?
- How much does your child have to do (for example, cook or care for others)?
- Does your child know what to do in an emergency?
- What time of day will your child be alone, and for how long?
If you decide to leave your children alone, make sure they can contact you right away if necessary. Give them a phone number where they can call you.