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Fullmetal,
Child abuse is one of the biggest problems facing America today. Children whose parents abuse them often turn to a life of crime, or suffer physical or mental scars. In severe cases the child may even die. In Saint Louis a boy was attacked by a pack of dogs, after he had finished playing basketball at the local court. If his mother had reported him missing he may have been found in time to rescue him, instead he bled to death under a tree. (Davis 3A) Of course this is an extreme case of child abuse, and it is often not this severe. The best way to prevent child neglect is to start family planning at an earlier age.
It is tough for many people to understand why anyone would abuse a child, but it happens more than people think. Intergenerational transmission of violence is a major cause of child abuse. Children who were abused when they were young are more likely to be abusive when they grow up and have children. (Compton’s 1) Some studies have shown that thirty percent of abused children grow up to be abusive parents. Children who were not abused and grow up to have children are much less likely to be abusive parents, only two to three percent of people will be abusive. (Child Abuse and Neglect 1) People would tend to question why a child who knows how hard it was when they were young would grow up and do this to their child. Children grow up thinking that everything their parents do is right. The problem is when these children are abused they don’t often learn that it is the wrong thing to do, and will be more likely to abuse their children. (Compton’s 1) Stress can be a cause of child abuse as well. Parents who don’t know how to handle stress will often lash out, and become abusive to their children. Stress can be brought on from a variety of places. Common stress factors are unemployment, illness, drug abuse, poor housing, larger than average family size, death, or the presence of a new baby. (Compton’s 1) A large number of cases of child abuse come from families living in poverty, poverty can cause or result of any one of the most common stress factors. (Child Abuse and Neglect 2) When people are under stress they often will lash out at their kids for the littlest incident, if this happens too much they may start to physically abuse their kids. Families from poverty have the largest reported cases of child abuse, but that may not be true, wealthier families may have just as many incidents of child abuse. (Child Abuse and Neglect 2) Wealthier families have an easier time hiding child abuse because they don’t have as much contact with social agencies. Social workers, physicians, and others who report child abuse have an unfair tendency to label kids from poor families as being abused quicker than wealthy families. Alcohol and drug abuse can greatly increase the risk of child abuse. These activities bring on extra stress and compound any problems they may have already. Mental retardation or developmental disabilities works in the same way, parents with children who have a disability have a greater chance of being abusive. (Juvenile Violence 1) Parents who abuse children are usually socially isolated. Social isolation and low community involvement is another cause for child abuse. Very few of the parents who abuse their children belong to any community organizations, and little contact with friends or relatives. Without community involvement parents lack the support systems that would help them with their problems. The lack of community involvement makes it less likely that a parent will change their abusive ways. (Compton’s 2) In societies were the burden is placed on the community it is less likely that a child will be abused. In the America parents take all the responsibility for raising a child, witch in turn causes a higher risk of stress and child abuse. A child with only one parent raises the risk of child abuse. Single parent families often earn less money than other families. Earning less money is a major cause of stress and stress is a major cause of child abuse. Maybe obviously, but families with spousal abuse have a higher chance for child abuse. As well families were either the husband or wife dominates in making all the decisions have higher rates of child abuse. Three-fifths of child abusers are female, the female child abusers were usually younger than male child abusers. The most common pattern of maltreatment was a child neglected by a female parent with no other parents. (Child Abuse and Neglect 2) Child abuse has many short-term effects, and maybe twice as many underlying long-term effects as well.
The consequences of child abuse go deep into the subconscious. Many people think of child abuse as being physical abuse only, but usually child abuse is mental abuse. Physical injuries can range form bruises, scrapes, burns, and brain damage. In severe child abuse cases the child can suffer permanent disabilities, and even death. The psychological effects of abuse stay with the child forever. The person may have a lowered sense of self worth, an inability to relate to peers, reduced attention span, and learning disorders. In severe cases the child may suffer from psychiatric disorders. These disorders include: depression, excessive anxiety, dissociative identity disorder, and an increase risk of suicide. On top of these problems many of the children have difficulty deciding right from wrong. (Compton’s 2) Neglected children often find family structure with their friends. They will try to find some friends who make them feel secure. They will inevitably join a gang with a family like structure. (Burke 293) Children who were abused can develop behavioral problems, including violence and juvenile crime, because of their reduced sense of right and wrong. Children who are mentally abused usually suffer from depression, excessive anxiety, identity disorders, and inclined risk of suicide. (Compton’s 2) Children who were sexually abused face larger problems when they grow up. They will show an unusual interest in sexual organs. Sexually abused children may demonstrate abnormal public behavior such as public display of their genitals. The long-term effects are almost the same as other types of abuse, depression and low self-esteem, except they may have sexual problems like avoidance of sexual contact, confusion about sexuality, or involvement in prostitution. (AAPL Newsletter 2) All children who are abused do not turn bad in fact the majority turn out just fine. High intelligence, good scholastic achievement, good temperament, and having close personal relationships can detour abused children from a life of crime. (Compton’s 2)
Prevention of child abuse is the best way to prevent it from happening, but it is not always easy. In order for prevention of child abuse you must first identify possible cases. One solution to the problem is better family planning. People don’t realize how much stress a child puts on their parents. Children also cost a lot of money, most child abuse cases are by people living in poverty so the cost of a child makes it that many times harder on the family. Adults who have abused children should get counseling as the first defense against it happening again. They need to learn to deal with the stress of having a family. Children sometimes think that everything their parents do is right. We need to teach kids at an early age the signs of an abused child. If one of their friends is being abused they are more likely to see it than an adult. If social services take the kid away it could just deepen his mental scars. Instead they should leave the child with the parents under close supervision. Otherwise the parents may never learn to take care of their child. Children are a lot of work, maybe they are just too much for some people. Since most of the reported cases of child abuse are from families living in poverty, they cannot afford childcare. This puts a lot of stress on the parents to try to work and take care of the children. If there were some kind of day care were the parents could take their kids it would help a lot of people. Making ends meet is one of the hardest things for families to do. It would help a lot of people if they could get temporary financial assistance. It is difficult to raise a family on minimum wage. They need someone to give them financial assistance while they try to find a better job, and take care of their kids. Stress is the underlying cause of almost all child abuse cases. If we trained people how to deal with stress we may be able to prevent child abuse. The only problem with this solution is that making the person who is under stress go to the meeting may cause more stress.
Family planning is the best way to stop child abuse. Family planning will help the parents to understand the difficulty in raising a child. Kids cost a lot of money, the program could help people make the right decision. Kids require lots of physical energy, late nights, and changing diapers are a few examples. Many people are not in their best physical condition when they have children. They may not be ready for the late nights, and when the kid gets older indelibly they will have to chase him or her around stores, and other public places. Children are mentally difficult to raise as well. They are a major cause for worry and added stress to an already stressful life. Family planning would help families realize how hard having a child is.
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