Robert Anda, a doctor, advisor to the Center for Disease Control, and co-author of the ACE Studies (Adverse Childhood Experiences) makes the point that subjecting your child to neglect or traumatic experiences is akin to feeding your child lead paint chips. The damage to the child’s developing brain is similar with both actions.
Because of a vigorous campaign to educate us about the harm of lead paint, we all know that making our kids eat lead paint would be a severe form of abuse. On the other side, because of a complete absence of information about child abuse and neglect, very few parents understand the scope of neglect and abuse and the immense, long lasting damage it can do to their kids.
If you want to understand the true scope of childhood trauma check out the ACE Studies