In the United States, almost one million reported children are abused each

year. Not to mention the other unreported incidents due to a child feeling afraid or

embarrassed to tell someone (“Child Abuse” KidsHealth.). Child Abuse has been a

major problem for many generations. It’s hard to believe that someone would do

something so terrible to a child. Child abuse can come in many different shades just

like the monochromatic color scale. Different shades of child abuse range from

physical to sexual, and often emotional or neglect.

Physical abuse is the most apparent kind of abuse since it is visually

noticeable on a child. This is when a parent or older individual purposely causes

pain to a child leaving them with bruises, broken bones, burns or cuts. Physically

abusing a child is not an accident (“What is Physical Abuse”). Did you know only

forty-six countries passed laws banning physical punishment in all places? (“Child

Abuse” Global Issues in Context). Usually when a child is being physically abused it

is a pattern of repeated and inflicted pain. A child placing his hand on your hot plate

and burning himself is not a form of abuse. This is just an example of the parent or

guardian being careless and not paying attention at that specific moment. However

a child with repeated burns on there extremities could be a sign of abuse happening

at home. Physical abuse not only causes damage on the outside of the child, but also

on the inside. According to a long-term study, 80 percent of people that have been

abused at some point in their lives had at least one psychological disorder by the age

of 21 (“Child Welfare Information Gateway”). Why do parents want to physically

abuse their own child? One of the most prevalent reasons a parent abuses their child

is because they themselves were abused as a child. Abuse can also occur because of
health issues, family or relationship problems, or difficulty controlling anger (“What

is Physical Abuse”). A common form of physical abuse is “abusive head trauma”

otherwise known as shaken baby syndrome. This specific kind of abuse is a primary

cause of death from child abuse in the U.S since it is so aggressive and can damage a

baby’s brain so fast ("Child Abuse."KidsHealth.). If the child has a more developed

brain and survives this kind of abuse, as they grow older they could develop brain

damage. Damaging a child’s brain while it is still growing and getting stronger can

cause the child to abuse alcohol or drugs, smoke, or overeat due to emotional

problems such as depression and anxiety in later life (“Child Welfare Information

Gateway”). Physical abuse is setting up children for failure. This is causing children

to harm themselves later in life to escape the traumatic experiences of their

childhood.

According to the Children’s Assessment Center, “Adult retrospective studies

show that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men were sexually abused before the age of 18.

This means there are more then 42 million adult survivors of child sexual abuse in

the U.S”(“Child Sexual Abuse Facts”). Sexual abuse is defined as being forced against

a child or persons will to perform or allow a sexual act. It can include any kind of

sexual touching, fondling or forcing a child to undress; as well as showing

pornographic material, showing a child ones’ genitals or making a child be in

pornographic picture or video (“Child Abuse”Kids.Health). Who are the ones usually

sexually abusing the children? Most of the sexual abusers are men in the child’s life

that they trust. That is why it is so hard to spot because since the children trust

these individuals in their lives they would never betray or loose the love provided
by that person. Sexual abuse was first brought to public attention in the mid-1980s

when Catholic Priest was caught abusing boys in their churches. The victims were

usually young boys who were being told by their families to always trust the church

and therefore they did not realize that they were being taken advantage of. Sexual

abuse by clergy had been a reoccurring problem in not just the U.S. but in Germany,

Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands (“Child Abuse” Global Issues in Content

Online Collection). “It is proven that 73% of victims of child abuse do not report it

for a year, 45% do not report it for 5 years, and some will never reveal the abuser or

if they are even getting abused in their life” (“Child Sexual Abuse Facts”). If a child is

being sexually abused some signs could be unhappy or suicidal behavior, sleep

problems, eating problems, knowledge too advanced for their age, language and

more. Not only can signs of sexual abuse show as a child but it can carry into

adulthood as well. Adult victims of childhood sexual abuse are likely to have

physical disorders and mental issues (“Defines and Describes the Different Types of

Child Abuse”). The scariest thing about sexual abuse is that the children being

abused are known to have the most emotional damage to them. Sexual abuse can

cause the child to feel that they are responsible for the abuse and feel guilty because

of it. Having this kind of emotional strain can cause a child to not be able to obtain

an intimate relationship later in life (“Child Abuse and Neglect”). Messing with a

Childs emotional state can determine their happiness later in life. Sexual abuse

causes children and teens to have trust issues and that can affect a kids social life,

sexual life, and work life.

 A child that is being abused does not always show on the top of their skin.

Emotional abuse and neglect is also forms of child abuse, which instead of burns and

blood can leave more serious long lasting scars. “Sticks and stones may break my

bones but words will never hurt me”, though this saying has been around for a long

time, emotionally abused children would disagree (“Child Abuse and Neglect”).

Examples of emotional abuse include, constant shaming and bringing a child down,

threatening and frequently yelling, and even showing no affection for your child.

Some parents do not realize they are doing this to kids but it is still a form of abuse.

Emotional abuse can result in low self-esteem/confidence, depression, or even

suicide later in life. Neglect and Emotional Abuse are very similar but with different

needs. While emotional abuse is more focused on mental and loving aspects neglect

is more a physical matter. Child neglect can be phrased as lacking in giving your

child their basic needs, which can include, food, clothing, hygiene, or super vision

(“Child Abuse and Neglect”). As a child you never want to be told what to do, say, or

listen too. Though children always fight their parents on things, their parents always

know best. This is why having lack of supervision on a child is a form of neglect even

if the child does not realize it at the time. This kind of neglect is labeled as

Abandonment (“Child Abuse” KidsHealth.). A child that is neglected is not getting its

physical or emotional needs. Most children suffer from horrible memories and

traumas from emotional abuse and neglect but some can come out unharmed. Why

can some children survive through this experience and some cannot? Being able to

ignore and manage neglect or abuse is called resilience. Resilience occurs in children

with a good sense or humor, optimism, self-esteem, and self-confidence (“Child

Welfare Information Gateway”). Emotional abuse and neglect seem like they are the

least serious of all abuse types. They are still affecting children all over the world

and can lead to self-harm towards a child!

Child abuse is a very serious issue and can have lifelong effects. Different

types of abuse can leave different kinds of scars on a child. Abuse can take many

forms from mental to physical to sexual to emotional and even neglect. It is critical

to learn signs and symptoms all types of abuse and neglect so those suffering

children can be moved quickly into more safe environments.

 Works Cited

"Child Abuse." Global Issues in Context Online Collection, Gale, 2016.Global

Issues in Context, . Accessed 9 Mar. 2017.

Child Abuse." KidsHealth. Ed. D'Arcy Lyness. The Nemours

Foundation, Aug. 2015. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.

"Child Sexual Abuse Facts." Children Association Center of Houston.N.p., n.d.

Web. 05 Mar. 2017.

"Child Abuse and Neglect." Child Abuse & Neglect: Recognizing the Signs and

Making a Difference. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2017

Child Welfare Information Gateway. "Victims of Child Abuse Suffer

Long-Term Consequences." Family Violence, edited by Dedria Bryfonski,

Greenhaven Press, 2013. Current Controversies.

"Defines and Describes the Different Types of Child Abuse." Blue Knot

Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.

Nspcc. "What Is Physical Abuse." NSPCC. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2017