According to World Health Organization, Child maltreatment, sometimes referred to as
child abuse and neglect, includes all forms of physical and emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse,
neglect, and exploitation that results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health,
development or dignity. Within this broad definition, five subtypes can be distinguished –
physical abuse; sexual abuse; neglect and negligent treatment; emotional abuse; and exploitation.
Child abuse as a problem has ballooned over last decade with more and more cases coming to
light, some grave and heinous enough to shake one’s faith in humanity.
This essay analyzes an article published by Antelava Natalia. “America’s child death shame.”
bbc.co.uk, 17 October 2011. The article sheds light on the prevalence of odious crime in US and
reveals some shocking facts. According to the article, every five hours a child dies due from
abuse or neglect in the US! The statement itself shows how deep and rooted this problem is in
our society. US which brags itself of being the superpower and one of the most industrialized
countries, leads the industrialized world in child abuse too, a fact that should wake the
policymakers up and make them ponder as to what is wrong and rotten. The article reveals one
more staggering fact that should put every American to shame, over the last 10 years more than
20,000 American children are believed to have been killed in their own homes by family
numbers, a figure nearly four times the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The article also tries to dig in further and find out the reasons behind the problem and who are to
be blamed. Many reasons have been illustrated for such sharp rise in the numbers pertaining to
child abuse. Factors like teen pregnancy, high-school dropout, imprisonment and poverty are
some of the social reasons which encourage this problem. There is no specific reason behind the
issue and the article rightly concludes that no single person or authority is responsible for it but
the entire society in one way or the other shown their indifferent attitude towards the menace. It
quite rightly hold everybody responsible ranging from overworked investigators, inefficient
management to merciless family members. Mostly the cases are too complex and complicated
for a single factor or reason to be held responsible and is usually an act of connivance between
authorities ( lax behavior) and family members (who in most cases commit the crime).
Child abuse itself leads to a cycle of violence, according to the data mentioned in the article
abused children are 74 times more likely to commit crimes against others and six times more
likely to maltreat their own children. Thus, this issue acts as a vicious circle and forms and
unending chain which can only be broken by educating people and making stronger and more
effective laws and legislations.
At the end, the author doesn’t shy away from telling us that all is not lost and that the world is
getting more and more considerate about the issue. Politicians are turning their heads towards the
issue recognizing the so called “national crisis”. A congressional hearing was held in July, 2011
in the field to find out what could be done to prevent deaths from child abuse. Some measures
have been suggested by experts and corroborated by many to control the tide, like visits to new
parents by qualified doctors and preparing them for the difficulties of family life.
The article brings out the issue quite clearly and vividly but fails to touch some important aspects
related to child abuse. It only talks about physical abuse, one of the constituents of child abuse,
but doesn’t give us any knowledge about sexual and emotional abuses our children face.
Overall, the article does a good job by presenting some awful figures and facts about child abuse
which could help our society wake up from the somnolence it has been in and make it more
sensitive towards the pains of children. As goes the adage, “Child is the father of the man”, let us
strive and work hard towards uprooting this evil from society, country and the world to make
mother earth a safer place for the tots.
Works Cited
Antelava Natalia, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15288865
World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/topics/child_abuse/en/
