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92_SR0422
LRB9216790RHrh
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Shaken Baby Syndrome is the term used to
3 describe the injuries babies and very young children sustain
4 from being violently shaken; children who sustain life
5 threatening injuries from this syndrome are held by the arms
6 and shaken back and forth in a quick, jerking motion; and
7 WHEREAS, Frustration and stress are the reasons one
8 shakes a child; a crying child is reported to be the number
9 one reason why people have shaken a child; and
10 WHEREAS, Children who are victims of Shaken Baby Syndrome
11 can suffer from the following injuries: the collection of
12 blood between the brain and the skull (Subdural Hematoma),
13 tearing of the child's brain tissues (Axonal Shearing),
14 swelling of the child's brain (Cerebral Edema), bleeding
15 along the back inside layer of the child's eye (Retinal
16 Hemorrhage), the detachment of the inner most layer of the
17 eye from the rest of the eyeball (Retinal Detachment), bone
18 fractures of the skull and ribs due to the way the child was
19 held during shaking, and other physical damages may occur
20 including mental retardation, coma, and even death; and
21 WHEREAS, An estimated 50,000 cases of Shaken Baby
22 Syndrome occur each year in the United States; one shaken
23 baby in four dies as a result of this abuse; head trauma is
24 the most frequent cause of permanent damage or death among
25 abused infants and children, and shaking accounts for a
26 significant number of those cases; and
27 WHEREAS, Some studies estimate that 15 percent of
28 children's deaths are due to battering or shaking and an
29 additional 15 percent are possible cases of shaking; and
30 WHEREAS, The victims of Shaken Baby Syndrome range in
31 age from a few days to five years, with an average age of six
-2- LRB9216790RHrh
1 to eight months; therefore, be it
2 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SECOND GENERAL
3 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Governor
4 of the State of Illinois to proclaim the week of September 1
5 through September 7, 2002 as "Shaken Baby Syndrome Awareness
6 Week" in an effort to urge all citizens in the State of
7 Illinois to become educated about Shaken Baby Syndrome; and
8 be it further
9 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this Resolution be
10 forwarded to the Governor of the State of Illinois.