Catherine Frena & Emily Barron
Mr. Schwab
U.S. History
15 December 2011
Child Abuse
Bruises, neglect, depression, scars, these are some of the direct results of child abuse. Children are constantly being deprived of the love and care that all parents should provide. In almost all cases of abuse, the child’s life is altered forever. They will never think the same, act the same, or treat others the same. Emotional, neglect, physical, and sexual abuse occurs in multiple situations. Children are being abused and someone needs to help them, children under the age of five can’t speak for themselves, so stand up and make a difference to stop child abuse.
Child abuse is a major issue in America. Many children are affected by this abuse by their own family members. “Prevent Child Abuse America defines child abuse as a nonaccidental injury or pattern of injuries to a child. Child abuse is damage to a child for which there is no ‘reasonable’ explanation. Child abuse includes nonaccidental physical injury, neglect, sexual molestation, and emotional abuse” (http://new.vawnet.org/). Emotional child abuse is the verbal abuse by saying things that upsets or causes a sense of fear in a child. Sometimes people don’t recognize this as abuse, but words can really effect children and make them uncomfortable or afraid of life. Child neglect is when a child is not receiving the necessities they need to live properly. Neglect usually affects children who live in poverty, those of who have teen parents, or children who have parents that use excessive drugs and/or alcohol. Physical abuse is very typical when one thinks of child abuse; it is the causing of physical pain to a child. The result of physical abuse is brutal and hard to acknowledge because, how could a loved one hurt their own child? Child sexual abuse is the uncomfortable situations, forced by an adult, that a child experiences that relates to sexual behavior. This abuse is terrifying to discuss because a family member must be messed up in the mind to sexually abuse his/her own child. In general, many parents abuse their children because of depression they experience, mental health issues, history of abuse in their own families, or of domestic violence happening in their own home. Domestic violence is usually portrayed as violence that a husband has towards his wife. In most cases, if a wife is abused, so are the children. These two cases are related and if the abuse that a husband has towards his wife increases and becomes more violent, so does the abuse towards the children. Parents need to take action to stop abusing their children or to prevent abuse all together. Parents should become involved in their child’s life by asking their child about his or her life. Parents should also form a good relation between their children and themselves. Also parents should learn to cope with their own emotions and not express anger and frustration towards their own children or towards others. Another option that is helpful for parents is to become good friends with other adults so parents can have someone to talk to that may be experiencing the same problems.
There are many long lasting effects that a child of abuse experiences. He may have trouble making friends, emotional problems- relating to temper tantrums and having trouble controlling anger, and having poor grades in school. On average, children who are abused are more likely to be arrested by the police then children who are not affected by abuse.
More than 3 million innocent children are abused each year, 115 children are abused hourly. Every day about 3 children die because of abuse. This is a major problem but many children don’t tell adults or someone they trust that they are being abused because they have fear. Fear that telling someone will cause more pain and terror in their life. There are some warning signs that one can infer that a child is being abused. Some signs are constant injuries such as broken bones, bruises, and/or burns, continuous fears that are not normal for a child of his or her age, aggressive behavior, social abandonment, and if a child threatens to run away. All of these could be signs of abuses but sometimes it is a lot harder to tell if a child is abused or not, most children do not show signs or tell anyone.
Child abuse is such a major issue right now, especially because times are so tough with the economy and job losses. Some parents are stressed out and use their anger towards their own children. This needs to be stopped, so make your voice heard, and stand up to stop the abuse.
Works Cited
Works Cited
Child Abuse Statistics. http://www.yesican.org/stats.html. Web. 10 December 2011.
Children of Domestic Violence. http://www.turningpointservices.org/Domestic%20Violence%20-%20Children%20and%20Domestic%20Violence%20Statistics.htm. Web. 10 December 2011.
National Child Abuse Statistics. http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics. Web. 10 December 2011
The Relationship between Domestic Violence and Child Abuse. http://new.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/PCAA_DVandChild.pdf. Web. 10 December 2011.
Child Abuse and Neglect. http://helpguide.org/mental/child_abuse_physical_emotional_sexual_neglect.htm. Web. 10 December 2011
Child Abuse. What Every Parent should Know. http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/at-home/Pages/Child-Abuse-What-Every-Parent-Should-Know.aspx. Web. 10 December 2011
Getting Help for Child Abuse. http://thequietvoice18.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/getting-help-for-child-abuse/. Web. 10 December 2011
Child Abuse: Signs and Symptoms. http://frenchizal.blogspot.com/2010/10/child-abuse-signs-and-symptoms.html. Web. 10 December 2011
