Child Abuse And Neglect

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More than 2.5 million cases of child abuse and neglect are reported each year in the United States (Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics). Almost five children die as a result of abuse and more than three out of four are under four years old (Child Abuse: Statistics & Facts). Child abuse is very common amongst families (Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics). One-third of these involve physical abuse and one half involves neglect. Studies show that one in four girls and one in eight to nine boys will be sexually abused before they are 18 years old (Child Abuse: Statistics & Facts). There are different types of child abuse. One type is physical abuse. It involves the parent inflicting injuries to the child’s body. These injuries can include: bruises, burns, broken bones, head injuries and even injuries to internal organs (General Information about Child Abuse). As a result of physical abuse, children may be scared and shy when people approach them and try to touch them. Another sign that abused children might show can be them wearing long clothing in order to cover and hide their injuries (General Information about Child Abuse). They do this in order to prevent outside factors from asking them questions. The main sign of this kind of physical abuse that the parents or caregivers can show are anger problems or the excessive need for control. Sexual abuse is another type of child abuse. It is any type of sexual activity that a child cannot understand or give consent to. Some examples of this are: fondling, oral-genital contact, genital or anal intercourse, exhibitionism, voyeurism and exposure to pornography (National Council On Child Abuse And Family Violence...) Some signs of sexual abuse are: the child has trouble sitting or standing,... ... middle of paper ... ...g a support system can be hard. If they do not have anyone to listen to him or her or even help take care of them, they can easily turn to child abuse. Sometimes parents are able to drop of their children at their grandparent’s house to get away and have a day to themselves. This can help relieve stress since they have responsible people that have no issue taking care of their child. In other cases where this option is not available, the stress can build and the parent may abuse their child out of frustration. These parents can even turn to drugs and alcohol because of it, which can lead to more problems for both the child and the parent. Children can die from being abused and those who are lucky enough to survive usually end up with psychological problems because of it. No matter what type of abuse they receive, they will never be able to live their lives normally.

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