Child Abuse in America

According to Tennyson Center for Children, “A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds in the U.S.” (“Child Abuse in America”). One cannot fathom the idea of why anyone would intentionally hurt the innocent children of today’s society. Child abuse happens with children of all ages, gender, and religions. Likewise, the world can be identified as a harsh place, where child abuse occurs around the world, and is even evident in the United States. There are many factors that contribute to this repulsive behavior. Physical, sexual, and psychological cruelty are effects of child abuse.

Physical abuse is a painful, devastating event that occurs on a daily basis. According to the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, physical abuse is “when someone uses a part of their body or an object to control a person’s actions” ("Violence Prevention Initiative- Defining Violence and Abuse"). There are numerous forms of physical force, such as, hitting, strangling, slapping, beating, and kicking. (“What is Child Abuse”). Other types of harm include objects or weapons to injure the child. Most of the time, physical abuse goes undetected because it is hard to distinguish it. Children often get hurt and parents or other adults often make up excuses of what actually happened. Usually no further questions are asked, leaving the child helpless and alone. Following this further comes the point of discovery.

With physical violence in mind, recognizing the signs of abuse can be quite difficult. Statisticbrain.com states, “17.6% of all child abuse cases have to do with physical maltreatment, and 80.8% of the perpetrators were the child’s parent or parents” (“Child Abuse Statistics”). Then, suspicion often arises when the parent’s exp...

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