Child abuse

Aristotle defined the man not only as a social being in the true sense of the word, but
also as the most ferocious animal because he is endowed with a quality – intellect - with
which he is capable of horrid actions against his fellows. With regard to the relation between
grown-ups and children, these horrid actions are incarnated in physical, psychological,
sexual abuse and so on. As Issac Asimov put it, “Violence is the last refuge of the
incompetent” and the children should not be submitted to the incompetence of others only
because they have more years of life!

Child abuse is a despicable act; it is not a form of showing one’s strength and
stamina, it is the total opposite – through violence one reveals the evil part of his or her
being, dies as a human being and turns into nothing. Although there is a popular belief which
says that parents are entitled to beat their children because they gave them birth, only a sick
man could touch even with a finger his own son or daughter or any other child because not
only are they a part of us, the parents, but also they represent purity, love, forgiveness and
hope, values that mature people seem to have lost. Hurting a child is inadmissible; even if
violence between two children, teenagers or adults seems normal, when talking about a child
beaten by his or her parent the terms of the equation change. And the reason for this is the
fact that between a 4 year old boy and a 34 year old father is established an unequal rapport;
it is obvious that these two cannot be compared in terms of force and strength as the elder
does not have to put much effort in harming his ”opponent”.

From a psychological stand point, child abuse has negative aspects both on short and
long term. The first category includes injuries, bones fractures, bruises whereas the long term
effects, which are the worst, put in jeopardy the psychological development of the youngsters.
The traumas the abused children have gone through have repercussions on their socializing
skills and they may develop serious mental disorders. For instance, a sexual abuse may
determine a boy or a girl to lose trust in himself or herself and as well as in the others.
Furthermore, there are much more results from which, the following five are worthy to be
mentioned: sleep and alimentation disorders, suicide attempts, nightmares, aggressiveness,
hostility against the opposite gender and the list could continue. To put it in fewer words, the
life of an abused child is forever and undoubtedly compromised.
 But what determines child abuse? It may be the fact that when harming a little child,
the teenager or the adult may gain the feeling of supremacy, they may even consider
themselves powerful as they do not receive a response from the helpless victim. Moreover,
this unfortunate phenomenon has its roots in poverty, alcohol and drug abuse or it simply
derives from a sick mind which cannot realize how harmful this behavior is! How cold
blooded could a person be when beating a baby whose head is the size of his hand? A evil
force seems to posses the mind of such persons which have no mercy or, better said, have no
pangs of conscience; fury rummages the being, amplifies its intensity and burst into punches
which mutilates the frail body and soul of a child. Even the mother, who carried in the womb
her “cub” and who should defend her son or daughter with the nails and teeth, lends herself
to this outrageous “love manifestations”. Sad, but true!

In order to diminish or to stop the cases of violence, several measures had been taken
such as: campaigns against child abuse, campaigns highlighting the children’s rights, the day
of 5th June have become since 2006 “The Day Against Child Abuse” and last but not least,
laws were introduced with a view to discourage these types of behavior. For instance, two
articles were implemented in The Law referring to children protection: article 85, paragraph
1 states that “the child has the right to be protected against any forms of violence, abuses,
bad treatments or negligence!” and article 90 – “Any physical punishments are utterly
forbidden!”. If not respected, the aggressors risk to lose their parental rights or to spend
several years in prison where they can reflect upon the dramatic impact their deeds have had
on the victims.

All things considered, child abuse has nothing in common with the idea of a civilized
society. Adults seem to have been transformed into ruthless “monsters” who shed their anger
on innocent beings. Although what laws can do is to warn, they do not guarantee the security
of the children and as a result their fate is in the others’ hands. To conclude, children are
born to be loved and not to hate having been born!