Child abuse is a concern to everyone. It involves child maltreatment of a child who is below 18 years by a caregiver, parent or any custodian. Notably, child abuse can be physical, psychological, neglect or sexual. Ideally, concern is to check why cases of child abuse often occur.
The potential or actual occurrence of child abuse is questionable. The failure of either the guardian or the parent to act in a manner that may result in child abuse is devastating. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cases of child abuse are reported daily across the world (Petersen et al., 2014). The organization seeks to prevent any potential child abuse. Ideally, the most vulnerable group concern the young children aged below three years making 27% of the reported cases. Child preventive services (CPS) reported 702,000 victims in 2014.
Arguably, some parents are not conscious that they are abusing their children. Coherently, subjecting children to dangerous environments, unsupervised situation or making children feel unwanted or stupid is child abuse. Child abuse has extreme consequences. It influences the child’s perception of life, affect relation with others and a drop in performance is registered. Additionally, child abuse is adverse since it tampers with the child’s self-esteem (Petersen et al., 2014). Some peculiar cases have seen children developing the habit of bullying others as a way of fighting back. Others become too calm and become victims of bullies in schools.
Similarly, it is paramount to check the earliest signs of child abuse. Parents may have domestic quarrels that result to child maltreatment. Further, poverty level may be contributing factor since parents feel the burden and hence neglect the children’s needs (Invernizzi & Williams, 2011). Notably, the extent of inflicting children on physical abuse could be attached to the caregivers when the parent are not around.
Conclusively, the extensive result should be done to find solutions to children’s plight other than enacting laws. Children need maximum protection and care from the state and the parents.
References
Petersen, A. C., Joseph, J., Feit, M. N., National Research Council (U.S.), & National Research Council (U.S.). (2014). New directions in child abuse and neglect research.
Invernizzi, A., & Williams, J. M. (2011). The human rights of children: From visions to implementation. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Pub.
