Social Issues

By: Johnathan Wiggins

Child Abuse isnt just about black eyes. While physical abuse is shocking due to the marks it leaves, not all signs of child abuse are as obvious. Ignoring children, leaving them unsupervised, or even making them feel worthless or stupid are also forms of child abuse and neglect. That can leave deep, lasting scars on kids. Regardless of the type of abuse, the result is serious emotional harm. Child neglect occurs when someone does not provide the necessities of life to a child, either intentionally or with reckless disregard for the child's well being. This can include physical neglect, such as withholding food, clothing, shelter, or other in that such. Emotional neglect includes withholding love or comfort or affection. If you suspect a child is suffering from abuse or neglect, it's very important to speak out on it. Both the child and the abuser can get the help they need by catching the problem as early as possible. 

There are some symptoms to  being abused but it's not always easy to recognize when a child is being abused. Children who are being abused are often afraid to complain because they fear that they would be blamed or that nobody would believe them. Also, the person who abused them may be someone who they love and want to protect. It's not always good to keep this a secret even if the person is a loved one. Parents are often unable to recognize the symptoms of abuse because they may not want to face the reality that their child is being abused. Parents should watch for unexplained changes in a child's body or behavior. They should have their child examined and should be conducted only if a parent has reason to suspect their child has been abused. Parents should be alert to any of these changes:

Any injury such as a bruise, burn, fracture, or head injury that cannot be explained

Fearful behavior 

Abdominal pain

Bedwetting 

Sexually transmitted disease

Headaches or stomach aches with no medical cause 

Failure to gain weight

Those are only some of them. 

A combination of individual, relational, community, and social factors contribute to the risk of child mistreatment and abuse. Children are never responsible for the harm inflicted upon them, but certain individual characteristics have been found to increase a child's risk of being mistreated. Risk factors are contributing factors, not direct causes. Preventing this is better than curing it. Child abuse leads to many bad effects but not only for children that are being abused but also the abuser. We should prevent it from getting worse as the children today will be a leader for tomorrow.