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Results for 02/15/2007 to 03/02/2007

Last week, sydto said:

"Abused Friend

My friend has a hard time in her life. She is abused by her parents and her dad is cheating on her mom. My friend who lives next to her and goes by her house can look into the window and see them beating her. She also saw her dad with another woman and told me about it. I was surprised. My friend doesn't know that I know. How should I confront her about it? I want to be a good friend and help her."

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147 SmartGirls replied:

11%	Talk to an adult that you trust such as your parents or a teacher about what you know and with their help you will be able to figure out what to do. They can keep your name confidential so that your friend does not know that you reported her situation.
15%	Talk to your friend and tell her that you are always there for her if she ever needs to talk about any problems that she is having. By making yourself available, your friend will see that she can confide in you and may be more likely to talk to you about what's going on in her life.
18%	Call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD. You will be able to receive free assistance about what you should do in this situation and receive local telephone numbers where you can report what's going on with your friend.
13%	Meet with your friend in a quiet place where both of you will be more comfortable talking about this subject. Tell her that you know about what is happening to her and that this is not her fault. Inform her that there are various resources where she can go for help or more information, such as a school counselor or websites on the Internet.

43% gave other responses. Some SmartGirls said:

This is incredibly serious. You must tell an adult you trust. Speak to your friend first and let her know kindly that you know what?s happening to Even if she feels exposed and betrayed by you, it's more important that she gets help. Remember that you are being a good friend.
If your friend is abused you need to tell someone. If you don't confront someone immediately your friend can be hurt much worse in time. What your friends? parents are doing to her is against the law and something needs to be done about it soon or there can be consequences. Please contact someone soon for your friend.
You should talk to her about it and you should get help. Ask for her permission to call a child abuse hotline. She needs help and even if she tells you to keep it a secret, it is a dangerous situation that needs outside help!
Ask your friend what has been going on and try to make her understand that this is not her fault. Make her feel loved and help her to understand that these things are something that can be dealt with.

Thanks to all of you that gave your advice! Please give your advice for this week's issue.

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