SK AGAMA SRI AMAN

Text for public speaking

A very good morning to the honourable judges, worthy timekeeper, teachers and
my fellow friends. My name is ______________________ and I am standing here
today to deliver a speech entitled “Child Abuse”.

Respected teachers and my dear friends,

Every day, we hear incidents about crimes against children which are widely
reported in our media. We used to wonder how a human can misbehave with a
small , innocent, helpless child and sometimes takes solace to the fact that it
happened elsewhere and to an unknown child.

Any form of violence or mistreatment, be it physical, sexual or psychological

against children may be considered as child abuse. It also includes neglect by
parents or caretakers or failure to act after receiving information. Child abuse can
happen anywhere, be at your home, bus, school or anywhere we interact. It is
estimated that in ninety percent of the case ,the victims personally know the
culprits and sixty five percent of the cases are committed by family members. Isn’t
it sad to hear those facts? How can a child feel safe if the person that he or she
supposed to trust betrayed him or her? Let us all ponder about that..

But the fact is today, one out of three girls and one out of five boys are subjected
to sexual abuse before they reach age eighteen and approximately five children die
every day because of the consequence of child abuse. This statistic is a very serious
matter and it means that we are losing the energy and focus of our young
generation.

Teachers and friends,

In Malaysia, we can hear about these cases at least once a week, whether it
involves parents abusing their own infant or a father chained his own son on a gas
cylinder or many more. Sadly, many of the cases actually goes without reporting
because of fear, resulting more similar cases to occur .

Child abuse has terrible consequences. It can inflict serious mental disorders and
depression. Often, the victim loses confidence and slowly becomes introverts. In
some cases, the victim often slips towards smoking, alcoholism, drugs and even
suicide tendencies.
Having said those negative impacts…How can we prevent child abuse?

The first step is to raise the awareness around student community that this is a
wide spread problem and can happen to anyone at any time. Often the offenders
are the most unexpected faces. Parents and school should educate the children to
what extend others can behave with them and they should realize what good and
bad touches are. If they think that the line is crossed , they should be encouraged
and taught to respond or at least avoid the scene to prevent the situation from
getting worse.

The second and the most important step is to report the incident to the concerned
people. It can be to their parents, teachers or enforcement agencies. Often, the
victims are subjected to repeated assaults, if the culprits feels confident that the
matter will never be reported. The children should always be open towards their
parents and maintain a friendly relation with them.

Teachers and friends,

I have line out the impact and some prevention methods that can be implemented
to curb child abuse. Let’s all dream about a society where there is zero child abuse.
Let’s all join together and work towards it. Well then, I arrived at the end of my
speech, and thus I would like to thank all for lending your ears. With that, I end my
speech. Thank you.