Child Abuse In America

Did you know it is more likely for a child in the United States to be victimized in their own home than on the streets (The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault)? Child abuse is an issue that is often swept under the rug, but it is in indeed a very serious concern for growing teens in America. In the United States alone, one out of five girls and one out of eight boys have been reported either sexually or physically abused (The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault). Child abuse is detrimental to growing teenagers because it can cause increased risk of mental disorders, damage growth for developing brains, and it can even take the lives of teens if not stopped. Teens who suffer from child abuse will resolve this issue and

In a study by Rachael Rettner, children who have been exposed to child abuse have shown to develop less grey matter in regions of the brain than that of the average person. This missing grey matter is mostly located in the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for being used to do tasks that require more thinking. Also in these reductions, the shortage of grey matter was in areas of the brain that dealt with decision making and emotional control too. Gender also played a role in the reductions, as girls had more reductions in areas of the brain that caused depression while boys had reductions in impulse control (Rettner). Based on this information, it may cause victims of child abuse to have a harder time being independent later in life as well as have a harder time being put in a social background like

The death toll is often not reported, with up to fifty to sixty percent of deaths unreported in states like Colorado and North Carolina. According to the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information, “Fatal child abuse involves repeated abuse over a period of time or a single impulse incident.” These cases of repeated abuse are usually caused by one or more parents. In 2002, seventy-nine percent of child abuse cases had one or both of the parents involved with the abuse. Most deaths resulting from physical abuse are caused by fathers or male caretakers while most deaths resulting from child neglect are caused by mothers or female caretakers (National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information). By not stopping the cycle of abuse, the victim is put at risk of not just mental disorders, but of also losing their own