Child Abuse: Too much or too little emphasis in today's society
Child abuse refers to the intended or unintended mistreatment of any young person under the age of 16. Mistreatment is the infringement on the child’s human rights and needs. Child abuse takes several forms. Ranging from physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual, mental or even child neglect. Child abuse is a common topic in today’s world. However, this issue is usually talked about in general; very few concerned parties get into the fine details of this problem and how to solve it. Therefore, the amount of emphasis placed on the issue of child abuse is subject to debate. It is possible to argue on either side of this debate depending on the point of view taken.
The view that there has been too much emphasis on child abuse is based on the fact that several steps have been taken to protect children. In the 21st century, there has been a sharp increase in the incidents of child abuse, varying from one form to another. These incidents have not evaded the attention of the public media as well as human rights organizations and the child protection bodies. Therefore, it can be argued from this point of view that child abuse has been given so much emphasis because of the following reasons.
Media focus
In today’s society, the media is one of the most influential things in the world. Almost half of the world’s population has access to media information every day. There are many forms of media; the internet, television, radio and print media such as journals and news papers. With the improvement of world technology, the internet has become one of the world’s cheapest and effective modes of information spread. It is accessed by millions of people at any given point in time. Child abuse has been one of the headlines on the internet for years now. Child protection and human rights activists have used the internet to as a platform to lobby for the protection of children’s rights.
The internet
Currently, there are so many websites and blogs that have been set up specifically to focus on child rights, abuse and protection. Cases of child abuse have always been reported on the internet. News companies such as BBC and CNN have previously posted the plight of children and child abuse in war ravaged areas like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq and refugee camps in Somalia. This information is a big indicator of emphasis on child abuse. Social sites have also been used to report cases of child abuse as well as educating the public against child abuse. Sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have all been used as platforms for advocating for child rights and decampaigning child abuse. For example, the recent release of the video,” Kony 2012” on the social site YouTube is a very good example. The video had a record 31million views worldwide within 36 hours of its release. It was a video showing how Ugandan warlord, Joseph Kony, and how he had kidnapped children, recruited them to gorilla war fare and the females raped.
Print and television media
Usually, the journals and news papers have had exclusive focus on features on the world’s critical issues. One of these issues has been child abuse. In this case, there have been articles written about signs of child abuse, types of child abuse, how to protect children from abuse and proper child upbringing. This has been more or less a similar case on television and radio. News on child abuse has been passed on to the entire public through documentaries and programs. That is a sign that there is a lot of emphasis on child abuse.
Organization and charitable activities
The emphasis on child abuse can be felt through the current activities being undertaken by various child protection organizations and charity programs. Led by the United Nations Children’s fund (UNICEF), the Child’s Right International and save the Child, there are so many child rights organizations that have come up with the aim of fighting child abuse and promotion of child rights and safety. Boosted by other charitable organizations such as USAID, and Red Cross, these organizations have embarked on supporting children who were past victims of child abuse like rape, neglect and emotional abuse. Except for some Arab nations, at least in every country worldwide, there are child activists and organizations putting emphasis on child abuse as an issue that needs to be addressed.
Government and legal authority intervention
Child abuse has been such a major issue that governments have been forced to intervene to protect children for this inhuman vice. All over the world, like the international human rights code, the constitutions contain the rights for all citizens. The governments have gone as far as passing and implementing laws that will be specifically meant to protect children. For example, there are laws that prohibit child molestation, female genital mutilation and sexual harassment. The laws provide for proper education, health and other basic needs for every child. The children should also have a guardian/parent to make them have a sense of belonging.
Ethical and societal emphasis
This is where society’s way of doing things is taken to be a formality that should be adhered to by everyone in that society. These are not laws, but they have been the way society has done things since time memorial. Children have been regarded as blessings; they should be given the best possible kind of upbringing and be provided for by the people around them. It is society’s way of emphasizing on proper child care and support that regards child abuse as inhuman and unethical.
However, there is a school of thought that suggests that child abuse has not been given the kind of emphasis needed. That there is very little being done to alleviate child abuse and other forms of inhuman activities. This has been supported by the facts that there has been very little done about alleviating cases of child abuse.
Unreported cases of abuse
Despite the fact that a lot of publicity done to alleviate cases of child abuse, the fact that most cases of abuse go unreported is proof that there is not enough emphasis on the issue. Statistics show that there are many cases of abuse in households, especially in the poor families. However, these cases go unreported because there are no proper procedures that facilitate reporting of the matters. There are child hotline numbers for those who are molested, but most children who are abused in any way are usually threatened not to report the matter.
Irrelevant emphasis
The emphasis that is put on the issue of child abuse may not always be channeled to the right channel. Most of the matters that are reported focus on the abusers rather than the abused children. For example, the “Kony 2012” video was aimed at depicting Joseph Kony as a bad person, not trying to find a proper solution to the issue of child abuse. This emphasis should be put on how children can be protected from all forms of child abuse.
Generalization
Child abuse is a broad topic that has many forms of abuse within it. Child abuse could be emotional, physical, and mental or take the form of neglect. However, the relevant organizations usually generalize this issue so much that the focus required to tackle the particular problems are not addressed. There should be special units created to deal with specific forms of child abuse like rape, neglect, physical abuse and others. There have also been shortages in manpower to deal with child abuse; the relevant organizations do not have trained personnel like psychologists and officers who could deal with child abuse suspects.
In conclusion therefore, child abuse is a bad vice that is against the law and the general ethical requirements. There have been measures put in place to stop this vice but this has not been adequate enough. The legal system, the governments, the charitable organizations and the public in general should emphasize more on the issue of child abuse so as to eliminate it. There should be more laws and requirements put in place to ensure that children in any environment or condition are treated with respect.
References
Hendrick, H. (2003). Child welfare: historical dimensions, contemporary debates (illustrated ed.). Bristol: The Policy Press.
Johnson, F. C. (2004, July 31). Child sexual abuse. Retrieved March 20, 2012, from http://www.southuniversity.edu/columbia.aspx: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/elibweb/elib/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=9&edition=&ts=D6AFB78CA10CECE6E8A4DE95FED369C0_1332283724721&start=1&publicationId=
Pecora, P. J. (2000). The child welfare challenge: policy, practice, and research (2, illustrated, revised ed.). new Jersy: Transaction Publishers.
Wetzstein, C. (2012, february 6). THE "Abuse's big toll on littlest victims ; Physical injuries most frequent among poorest, new study finds.". Retrieved March 20, 2012, from http://www.southuniversity.edu/columbia.aspx: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/elibweb/elib/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=1&edition=&ts=D6AFB78CA10CECE6E8A4DE95FED369C0_1332284892124&start=1&publicationId=
World Book Publishing. (2009, June 20). Child Welfare(1975). Retrieved March 20, 2012, from http://www.southuniversity.edu/columbia.aspx: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/elibweb/elib/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=5&edition=&ts=D6AFB78CA10CECE6E8A4DE95FED369C0_1332284175478&start=1&publicationId=
