Child Abuse

Child Abuse

Child abuse is the physical or emotional or sexual mistreatment of children. Child abuse is increasing more and more in America. Whether it is from a broken home or the parents were abused as children themselves. The point is little innocent children are being abused and in some cases even killed. Why do innocent children get abused? Anger, depression, hate. All of these could be possible answers as to why children are being abused. I just can’t imagine why a grown person would beat on a poor defenseless child. Maybe because the parents know that they would not fight back. But let’s get deeper into the subject.

Remember, there’s a difference between discipline and child abuse. Discipline is when a child does something wrong and the parent feels that the child needs to learn his/her lesson. They will punish them by either taking away their privileges or by physical contact. Maybe a smack in the hand or on the behind usually works. Now child abuse is something totally different. Child abuse is when the parent hits the child over and over and damages their children not only physically but mentally as well. I can’t even begin to imagine what an abused child thinks. Why is this happening? Why me? I know a majority of the children don’t think about what they can do to stop it. They are so busy being afraid; they don’t want to tell anyone because it might make matters worse.

Why does abuse take place? Everyone has a reason as to why they abuse their children. Quite frankly, I could care less. There’s no reason in the world that I would accept as to why they abuse their children. “My husband/wife left me.” “I was drunk.” “I’ve been under a lot of stress.” I don’t get it. Should we blame it on the parents or should we blame it on the parents’ parents. The children’s parents were probably abused as children so they might see it as revenge. Or maybe since they were abused as children, it’s okay for them to abuse their children. I can ask so many questions and none of them would get answered.

“Some people suffer more painful experiences than others, and abuse is one of many possible causes of extreme emotional pain.”(Hopper)

I understand that life-threatening illness, death of a loved one, or physical disfigurement can be a little worse than abuse. But unfortunately, it’s up there in the charts. In most cases if it is not treated early in the process, it can increase to a child ending up in the hospital or maybe even dead. I know it’s easy to accept that things like this happen all the time, but what you won’t accept is how often it happens.

There many factors as to why and how the child becomes mentally abused. For instance, the younger the child, the more harmful it can be for them. Not to mention how hard it is for the child to process this through his mind. Depending on how young the child is, it’s at the stage where it’s observing its surroundings which usually determines what and how it thinks. What can also determine how it effects the child is who abuses the child. I think it’s more effective when it’s a parent, loved one, or trusted adult. I think you’re better off be abused by a stranger. You will be abused physically, but not abused mentally as much.

What if the child tells someone and the parent finds out? That can also be a factor in how the child becomes emotionally abused. The parent already knows, so how do they react? In most cases, it can lead to doubting, ignoring, blaming and shaming responses which can be extremely harmful. I think that helps in some ways but can be harmful in others. You can never judge how the parent may act. They might either stop because they know they are being watched or they might continue but with more abuse because they know they can’t trust you anymore. Whether or not violence was used can determine how bad the child will be abused. How long the child was being abused is also a big factor.

Everyday people are being prosecuted for child abuse. I can look on the news and I will hear at least one thing about child abuse or child neglect. For instance, a woman in Reno was arrested for abusing her son. The police received several calls describing how the mother was abusing her child. The police took the women into custody and