Essay on Child Abuse

Submitted By alexismlee22
Words: 653
Pages: 3

February 8, 2013

Child Abuse: Right or Wrong?
One out of every three girls will be sexually assaulted by the age of 18, and 1 out of 7 children are abused every day. In 2009, there were over 1,465 cases of child abuse and neglect. Child abuse is more than just bruises and broken bones. There is physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. All three types of abuse will forever have those horrific memories in the child’s head, leaving deep, lasting scars. Not all abuse is noticed either. Ignoring the child and their needs, leaving them unsupervised, putting them in dangerous situations, or making them feel not wanted and not loved are also all abuse. The result to all child abuse is serious emotional harm to the child.
Adults are required to report abuse as soon as they seen it or suspect it. If caught not reporting it. The fine is usually less than a parking ticket. Laws that could punish teachers, doctors, and any other adult for not reporting abuse have gone largely unenforced over the past decade. Having those laws would require adults who are always working with children to alert police anytime they even suspect a child is being abused.
Coach Jerry Sandusky was accused of molesting 10 boys in 15 years and was pleaded not guilty. Two officials were charged for failing to report the abuse to the police. Coach Jerry was charged with nothing. In Washington, court records showed that only eight people were charged over the past ten years. Only one person was actually convicted. Another high school coach confessed to covering up another coach’s sexual relationship. He was only forced to pay a $723 fine and sentenced to probation. Child welfare agencies approximated that 695,000 children last year were neglected or abused, and studies often found that even more abuse goes unreported. Surprisingly, medical researchers found that doctors and workers chose not to report abuse because they worried that it would do more harm than anything good. Beyond that, lawsuits by victims being abused regularly declare that professional workers failed to report abuse but they were never investigated or charged for breaking the law. Court records also showed that often cases are ignored or thrown out and those that aren’t usually leading to either jail time or a small fine. Only 3 out of 50 states actually have laws that make failing to report abuse a