When people talk about nation-wide “epidemics,” (for instance, the recent swine flu), it’s something mentioned with horror, terror, and a certain quietness that the whole world seems to hear . It’s what huge stars talk about on television talk shows, families chat about as they sit down for dinner, children converse about at school, and soccer moms gossip about over coffee. And yet, who spends their time talking about child abuse?
Child abuse and neglect are a much larger issue than many people seem to give them credit for. The statistics I saw on this awareness sight just about made my eyes pop out of my head.
Can you believe that America alone accounts for over 3 million reported cases of child abuse a year? Or that almost 5 children are reported being killed from child abuse every day? And you have to keep in mind that these statistics are a couple of years old and that these are only the reported cases. I can only imagine the number of children that get abused but never get any help because no one knows. There are likely many more cases today because the number of reported cases continuously increases.
Child abuse isn’t just being physically hit. It ranges from neglect to physical abuse to sexual abuse to psychological maltreatment to medical neglect. People need to realize the different types so they can become better aware.
Being abused as a child doesn’t just affect the child then and there; it causes damage a long way down the road. “Children that have been abused are more likely to become abusive, abuse drugs and alcohol, and even become pregnant as a teenager.” ("Child Help: Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse").
When children that are abused don’t get the help they need, don’t get noticed, or nothing stops the abuse, their chances of being affected later on in life increases. The mere memory of their childhood is sometimes enough to make people forget who they really are, and when that happens, that person doesn’t just affect themselves anymore, but also their family and loved ones. Child abuse tears families apart: both as it’s happening, and twenty or more years down the road.
We need to step up and take action to try to stop child abuse and help those who have already suffered. We need to see the signs that are sometimes too obvious,but at other times better hidden. We need to be aware. We need to start saving lives.
"National Child Abuse Statistics: Child Abuse in America." Child Help: Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse. Child Help, n.d. Web. 13 Feb 2011.
