Changing Attitudes and Behaviors to Reduce Family Violence

Preventing child abuse is the goal of Children’s Hospital at Montefiore’s (CHAM’s) No Hitting Zone, which is part of a national effort to equip parents with safe and effective alternatives to physical discipline.

No Hitting Zone was created in 2005 by a nurse and pediatrician in Cleveland, OH, and started at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in 2011, making CHAM one of about 30 No Hitting Zone children’s hospitals nationwide. CHAM is promoting the program in April as part of National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

“When I mentioned starting No Hitting Zone at Montefiore, there was no pushback, just an immediate, ‘Do it, Lynn!’” said Lynn D. Hamberg, LMSW, MEd, Director, J.E. and Z.B. Butler Center for Children and Families, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. “Leadership embraced it because it fits Montefiore Einstein’s value of supporting our community.”

Research shows that physically disciplining children can cause brain damage and other injuries, contribute to long-term mental and social problems and instill hostility—all while being an ineffective method for reducing undesirable behavior. “Most parents can end up getting physical with their children when they are struggling with things like depression, problems at work or dealing with a stressful situation,” Hamberg said.

Training sessions at CHAM teach healthcare professionals safe ways to intervene when they witness aggressive behavior or the potential for it, a not uncommon occurrence for parents in anxiety-inducing hospital settings.

Posters throughout CHAM remind parents that the hospital is a No Hitting Zone and offer them tips, including:

• STOP! Hitting your child will not help.
• BREATHE: Step back and count to 20.
• REMEMBER: Hitting teaches violence, and yelling doesn’t help.
• TRY: Many other proven discipline strategies that DO work.
• KNOW THE LAW: Hitting a child and leaving a mark is against the law in New York State.

Families and children who are victims of physical or sexual abuse have been exposed to violence, or may have experienced abuse- or neglect-related trauma, can receive care at the J.E. and Z.B. Butler Center for Children and Families, where the expert team has been providing care for more than 30 years. The Butler Center offers medical evaluations, forensic interviews, behavioral health services, training and consultation to serve families in need at every level. The facility is designed to foster a feeling of safety for children and families and to help them start the healing process.

Learn more about the No Hitting Zone program by calling the J.E. and Z.B. Butler Center for Children and Families at 718-920-5833 or visiting the website.