Child Abuse Essay

Submitted By berklee_lynn
Words: 577
Pages: 3

Child Abuse

Have you ever met or known anybody who has been or is a victim of child abuse? Almost five children die every day because of child abuse. More than three out of four children are under the age of four. 2011 Children’s advocacy Center surveyed over 141,000 children from January through June of 2011. 53,932 children were ages 0 to 6 years. 51,196 children were ages 7 to 12 years. 38,131 children were ages 13 to 18 years. Of those children 25,414 children reported physical abuse.
Child abuse is definitely more than bruises, burns, or black eyes. While physical abuse can be easily noticed or observed, other types of abuse such as child neglect or emotional abuse are harder to notice. Needless to say, it leaves long and deep lasting scars that can never be forgotten.
There are also other types of child abuse such as abandonment, substance abuse, medical abuse, and verbal abuse. All these can cause the child to suffer from long term psychological problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), clinical depression or anxiety.
Physical abuse is one of the most common types of abuse. It includes repeated hitting, beating, shaking, throwing, burning, scalding, drowning, or any other forms of physical harm to a child. Emotional abuse includes words, actions, comparisons or even indifference that are always discouraging for the children. The children are often rejected, ignored or even criticized by the abusers. Verbal abuse is similar to emotional abuse. Verbal abuse happens when the child is being yelled at or even humiliated using harsh words. Substance abuse is where a child is being exposed to illegal drug activities. Medical abuse is when parents or caretakers fail to give the child the most basic medical treatments.
The last two types of abuse are abandonment and neglect. Many people don’t know that these are considered a type of child abuse. Abandonment is when a parent leaves a child and the parent’s identity or their whereabouts are unknown. This can cause both physical and mental harm to the child. Neglect is where the child is not well taken care of. This includes parents or caregivers paying little or no attention to the child or basic requirements are