According to studies, the most vulnerable, defenseless and dependent population on adults mainly consists of children (Gould et al. 2012). Most of the times when children end up in hostile environments and become victims and hostages of physical, emotional and sexual violence, it is mostly blamed on their parents or their guarding adults. In modern education, as in the previous years and the coming years, child abuse and neglect have and will always be an overwhelming global epidemic (Radford et al. 2011). In most learning institutions, teachers are the ones who are faced with the daily responsibility of informing human or child service to report any incident that relates to abuse against the children they tutor because of the close relationship that they usually share with these children. An overwhelming amount of studies have concluded that child abuse is an act that is handed over from generations and that the behavior can mainly be mitigated through education of the victims and the society at large (Radford et al. 2011).
Consecutive studies have revealed that girls face a higher risk of sexual abuse as compared to boys. In fact, about 25 percent of women and 15 percent of men were abused sexually as children (Sedlak et al. 2010). Besides, approximately 900,000 children are abused annually (Radford et al. 2011). According to the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse Organization child victimization rate, out of every 1000 children, 12.5 children are abused annually (Sedlak et al. 2010). Besides, a study by Fortson et al. (2016) showed that 1500 children die annually from child related abuse, translating into four deaths daily. Furthermore, out of the 1500 children that dies every year out of child abuse, 80 percent of them are less than four years old.
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From all aforementioned statistics, it is evident that child abuse is a major global concern that affects future generations. In fact, most delinquent cases amongst young adults are committed by individuals with a history of sexual abuse. Child abuse is an issue plaguing children in modern times. Therefore, the following essay will identify the prevalence, risk factors and the interventions that are available for this endemic. It will address the questions of why child abuse occurs, who it happens to and the avenues that parents and the society at large have to improve the environment for the children involved.
Risk Factors and Prevalence
The term child abuse is complex and it defies a particular timeless definition. Since child abuse has been there for many generations, what one generation may perceive as acceptable or desirable child discipline may be perceived by another generation as unacceptable and abuse (Fortson et al. 2016). Child abuse is any non-accidental or avoidable action against a child that brings physical injury and is usually caused by a person who is responsible for the welfare of the child (Sedlak et al. 2010). Noteworthy, child maltreatment is a general phrase that is used to refer to all child abuse and neglect methods. They include emotional, physical, sexual abuse as well as exploitation and neglect (Sedlak et al. 2010). Gould et al. (2012) reveals that there are different signs of emotional abuse, physical abuse and neglect. There are different signs that children may portray to indicate signs of abuse. For instance, some signs of physical abuse include unexplained cuts, bite marks, fractures, bruises or welts, injuries that are not consistent with the nature of it, child reports an injury brought forward by the caretaker, the child appears extremely startles or fearful easily (Radford et al. 2011). On the other hand, sexual abuse signs include abrupt behavioral change, extreme reaction in regards to inappropriate sexual touch or reluctance to be touched by an adult, seductive behavior with adults and fellow youngsters, isolation, advanced sexual knowledge that is contrary to the age of the child, anger and depression, bleeding, itching or bruises around the child’s genitals (Radford et al. 2011).
Radford et al. (2011) further states that signs that a child is being neglected include lack of supervision by the parent or guardian for prolonged periods, unattended medical issues, proof of alcohol or drug abuse with the caretaker, inappropriate hygiene, dressing or unkempt appearance and fatigue or hunger. Besides, Gould et al. (2012) describes signs of emotional abuse as having an impaired self-worth, intense fears, anger and depression, failure to succeed, delayed emotional, physical, or intellectual development and finally display of extreme acts like aggressiveness and passiveness. Besides, studies have also indicated that generally, children may feel that they are not worthy to interact with their mates, isolate themselves and experience peer rejection. Embarrassment, anger, guilt, anxiety, and depression are also common feelings that stem from abuse.
Every year, approximately 300,000 children are reported to have been affected by child abuse or neglect (Gould et al. 2012). Many of such cases are assumed and not all of the cases are reported or even discovered. Therefore, it is suspected that up to 1.5 million children may be experiencing child abuse and neglect (Radford et al. 2011). For instance, just in the United States, approximately 900,000 children suffered from neglect and abuse in the year 2009. In 2010, approximately 3,000 children were abused daily and more than 100,000 reports of possible child neglect and abuse were reported to child protective services (Fortson et al. 2016). In addition, male and female children face the same amount of risk of experiencing neglect or abuse. The major difference lies on the perpetrators. For instance, girls are more likely to be abused by a member of their family or caregivers, while their male counterparts are more likely to be abused by individual who are not family members including their teachers or coaches (Radford et al. 2011). In addition, children from birth until three years face the highest rate of victimization, the older the child gets the less likely they are to be abused except in cases of sexual abuse (Sedlak et al. 2010). The median age for female sexual abuse victims is 8 years for male children and 11 years for female children. Most neglect victims are white, while about 25 percent are African American and about 15 percent are Hispanic. The other minor native communities make the rest of the victims (Sedlak et al. 2010). The figures above are approximate because not all abuse cases are reported. Studies indicate that children from lower economic standing are less likely to report abuse cases or be discovered. Furthermore, disabled children face higher risk of abuse than the non-disabled children. Most of such abuses are unreported and unrecognized because of the attitude and assumption about disabled people. Disabled children sometime require high levels of personal care and assistance (Radford et al. 2011). Such population do not usually have the verbal capability to disclose abuse. It is paramount to educate children with disability on how to verbalize abusive acts, because not doing so is an abuse by itself (Gould et al. 2012).
Violence is the main cause of death worldwide for people aged 15 to 44. Approximately 1.6 million individuals die from acts of violence annually (Fortson et al. 2016). About 4 million children are traumatized each year. Radford et al. (2011), also stated that parents who were abused or experienced trauma as children are likely to be abused.
Prevention and Education
Child advocates recommend a number of strategies that can be used to help families and children who are suffering from abuse. The recommendations usually tend to focus on both individual and societal efforts. One common child abuse prevention method is the use of public service announcements to encourage people to report any suspected cases of child abuse (Fortson et al. 2016). Noteworthy, many mandatory reporters as dictated by law such as doctors, teachers and social service agency employees and members of the community have expressed that child abuse should only be reported when there is substantial evidence of the abuse. However, this notion has heavily been disputed by child advocates, who instead suggest that suspected child abuse must be reported, after all the worst that could happen is just being wrong, and in the weight of this issue it is really not very bad (Fortson et al. 2016).
Additionally, there is need to instill greater interagency cooperation in order to mitigate child abuse. This cooperation must be seen between child protection agencies, women shelters, medical agencies, programs for at risk children and law enforcement agencies. Normally, these agencies do not share information. However, if this is changed, more and more child abuse instances would be brought to the attention of the different authorities and can be investigated and managed immediately. Along these lines, child protection programs and agencies should get more funding. According to Fortson et al. (2016), with more resources, child protection agencies can achieve greater lengths in the fight against child abuse. For instance, they could hire more workers, conduct better investigations, handle more cases and do more follow-ups with more families and children.
Besides, continuing more educational efforts should be initiated regarding issues of discipline and punishment styles and strategies. Besides, having greater respect for children and educating the community regarding child abuse and how to recognize it. Besides, people must alter the culture orientation regarding rearing and bearing a child. People who do not want to bear or raise kids should be allowed the liberty to do so and everyone must be enlightened about the difficulty of child bearing and rearing. These combined efforts can enable more children to grow up in a nonviolent, emotionally, satisfying families and become better adults in future.
Conclusion
Child abuse is a huge global problem and should be faced with courage and zeal. As per the numbers highlighted herein, it is evident that the issue of child abuse and neglect is as prevalent as chronic illnesses like heart disease or cancer. Children are the future and in order to have a better future, it is important to practice the preventive measures in order to have a future world that is more conducive and free from child abuse and neglect.
References
Fortson, B. L., Klevens, J., Merrick, M. T., Gilbert, L. K., & Alexander, S. P. (2016). Preventing child abuse and neglect: A technical package for policy, norm, and programmatic activities.
Gould, F., Clarke, J., Heim, C., Harvey, P. D., Majer, M., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2012). The effects of child abuse and neglect on cognitive functioning in adulthood. Journal of psychiatric research , 46 (4), 500-506.
Radford, L., Corral, S., Bradley, C., Fisher, H., Bassett, C., Howat, N., & Collishaw, S. (2011). Child abuse and neglect in the UK today. London: NSPCC .
Sedlak, A. J., Mettenburg, J., Basena, M., Peta, I., McPherson, K., & Greene, A. (2010). Fourth national incidence study of child abuse and neglect (NIS-4). Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services , 9 , 2010.
