My English Assignment

Jordanne Baxter

English 2010

Melissa Helquist

July 1^st, 2011

A topic that I hold closely to my heart is child abuse. I don’t think a lot of people truly understand the ramifications of child abuse. Most people, me included, only think of child abuse as being physical abuse of a child. However, there are so many other types of child abuse. The most common being neglect. My purpose of posting this discussion to really educate my family and friends on child abuse, also to make a commitment to never abuse my children. Hopefully, many others can make a conscious effort to really take to heart the same goal.

This chart really helped me understand the different kinds of child abuse. I know several people who were physically abused and sexually abused. These children grow up really struggling with self worth and self esteem problems. These are the mildest forms of repercussions of those forms of abuse. I will post statistics further down about the outcomes of most abused children. Neglect is the largest form of child abuse. As a mother, this breaks my heart. Children relish the love and comfort they get from parents. To deny anything so pure of this is unfair, and wrong. The ironic thing is that most parents who do this keep having children and the older children end up parenting with very minimal skills their younger siblings.

If you are on Facebook or any other social networking site, I am sure you have been you have seen the links to local groups against child abuse. This is usually because of a local tragedy of a physically or sexually abused child. I remember last year the heart breaking story of Ethan Stacy. http://www2.tricities.com/news/2010/may/14/father_of_ethan_stacy_i_didnt_have_any_choice-ar-234385/

This really hit me hard because it was so horrific and close to home. I can’t imagine what that poor family must have gone through knowing they’d still have a little boy if they were able to keep him home with his real father.

Statistics of child abuse victims are what really get me motivated to educate all those who need it on child abuse.

·         A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds.

·         Almost five children die every day as a result of child abuse. More than three out of four are under the age of 4.

·         It is estimated that between 60-85% of child fatalities due to maltreatment are not recorded as such on death certificates.

·         90% of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator in some way; 68% are abused by family members.

·         Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education.

·         31% percent of women in prison in the United States were abused as children.

·         Over 60% of people in drug rehabilitation centers report being abused or neglected as a child.

·         About 30% of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse.

·         About 80% of 21 year old that were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder.

·         The estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States for 2007 is $104 billion.

·         Abused children are 25% more likely to experience teen pregnancy.

·         Abused teens are 3 times less likely to practice safe sex, putting them at greater risk for STDs.

·         14% of all men in prison in the USA were abused as children

·         36% of all women in prison were abused as children

·         Children who experience child abuse & neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit violent crime.

·         Abused children are 25% more likely to experience teen pregnancy

·         Abused teens are 3 times less likely to practice safe sex, putting them at greater risk for STDs

·         Children who have been sexually abused are2.5 times more likely to abuse alcohol 

·         Children who have been sexually abused are3.8 times more likely develop drug addictions

·         Nearly two-thirds of the people in treatment for drug abuse reported being abused as children

These statistics are enough to make me feel sick. Like I mentioned earlier the ramifications of child abuse is really disgusting. Not only do I want to inform everyone reading to get a commitment not to abuse their own children, but also learn how to break the cycle. 30% of children who were abused will abuse their own children. With the rate of child abuse constantly on the rise, it’s important for all those were abused to really seek the help they need to overcome abusing their own children.

If you are someone you know has been abused, don’t be afraid to bring this up as a topic as conversation. If we all helped those who have been abused heal, or talked about coping methods for parenting children we could really make a huge dent in the number of victims of child abuse. Sometimes those who are abusing their children really don’t know where to turn for help to get the parenting skills and life management skills they need to stop. I found most of my information at www.childhelp.org

There are plenty of other resources like counseling or local religious forums that would love to help. Be the help that needs to happen to stop child abuse.