These days, newspaper and television are full of reports about child mistreatment, therefore, child abuse is very common social justice issue. Child abuse is an action that will result in harm to a child or put a child’s life at risk. A child can be physical, sexual, emotional abuse, and neglected. Every year, there are thousands of children are physically abused by no one else but their parents or relatives (Child Abuse).
Although a child can be neglected or suffers from physical damage, he/she has to suffer the most from emotional damage because those emotional traumas can last a lifetime (Child Abuse). Children who have been abused are scared to tell anyone about what they have experienced or choose to be quiet because the person who mistreated them is someone they are scared of, or someone they love very much (What to know). Surprisingly, parents are the most likely to abuse their children because of their mental issues or their history of abusing childhood (What to know).
Also, when abused children become abusing parents, they tend to have a higher risk of anxiety and depression, therefore, they have more problem trying to maintain lasting and stable relationships (Child Abuse). The reasons why adults express abusive behavior are when they do not now how to apply the right methods to discipline their child, and when adults have temper problems due to excessive use of alcohol and drugs (Why).
In addition, the closer the child to the abuser, the more serious the emotional damage will be (What to know). Therefore, early identification and treatment is very important to minimize the long-term effects of abuse (Child Abuse). If a child has been abused, a child’s safety is the primary concern, he/she needs to be in a safe environment away from the abuser (What to know). More importantly, that child should get treatment afterwards as soon as possible in order to recover, regain self-confident and trust faster (Child Abuse).
When I was researching about child abuse and neglect, I was surprised by how this issue can be a big problem to the society, how it can damage children’s mental and physical health significantly. Then, I suddenly thought about the topic that I was discussing in leadership class about privileges. Privilege can be defined as a right, which is specified and granted to a person, a member of a society, or a group of people. Before, I used to think that family is a basic right that everyone deserves to have and should have. It is believed to be “The thing that never leaves you even if you have to leave it” (Seita). However, I realized that having a loving family is a privilege that not anyone is lucky enough to have.
When thinking about how my privileges can benefit me by shaping my personalities, I wondered if victims of child abuse have these privileges? Were they mainly living in fear during their childhood? A large number of children today are engaging in life without the foundation of a reliable family (Seita). Growing up with only little or no support from family have hindered those victims’ the ability to develop themselves to the fullest in different aspects of their life, therefore, many of their talents were left unexplored. Postponing a report of an abusive case will likely to decrease that child’s chances to fully recover. For this reason, we should take action right now to help the victims of child abuse, in order for them to be able to recover from those bad memories of when they were being abused to prevent further damage to their mental as well as their physical health.
Research has shown that 9 is the average age of abused children and 22% of all of them are only under 8 years old (7 Ways). Moreover, 34% of all cases are caused by the victims’ family members (7 Ways). Up to 59% of them are abused by those who the victims’ family trust the most because abusers are often try to be closer to the victims’ family (7 Ways). So it is very important that you should inform yourself about the issue by learning about the consequences to decrease the risks of sexual abuse to others child and even your own child. Through observing external factors, you should be able to identifying and modifying those adults who have the signs of a abuser (7 Ways). Make sure to not leave your child alone with one adult. Further, be sure to minimize your child’s interaction with social media and the Internet in case of when abusers trying to approach your child (7 Ways). In addition, talking and interacting with children is necessary because often they are scared of sharing abusive experience with others.
There are several reason why a child keep abuse to himself/herself such as being threatened by the abuser, feared that they will let their parents down, and also because they do not have enough knowledge to identify that they are being abused (7 Ways). As a result, educate your child about abuse, and show him/her that you are open to answering and listening to what he/she said to help them develop the habit of sharing information with you more (7 Ways). Furthermore, knowing and recognize the signs of abuse to be able to report to authority can save a child’s life. Such as in North Carolina, if the abuse is caused by a family member, it is the best to report to the Department of Social Service (7 Ways). On the other hand, if the abuse is caused by those who are not a family member, reporting to the police department can be a great help (7 Ways). Another way to help reduce child abuse cases are to go to organizations that are founded to prevent child abuse to volunteer or support them financially such as Prevent Child Abuse in America, National Children Alliance, Child Abuse Prevention Association, and many more.
In conclusion, one main way that we can use to prevent child mistreatment is to make impacts and influences on behavior of individual. Therefore, educating yourself along with others, and even your child will help reducing the number of children being abused. So take action now to protect our children and their future!
