Running Head: Child Abuse and Neglect 1

Child Abuse and Neglect

​Kimberly Lopez

Ivy Tech Community College

Running Head: Child Abuse and Neglect 2

End Child Abuse and Neglect

I chose this topic on to end child abuse and neglect, because this is happening everywhere at

any time. Luckily I have never experienced this as a child, but I do know some people who have hurt

their children physically, mentally, and emotionally. I hate seeing children that I know get abused

and neglected. I wanted to advocate on this, so that I could be able to change the lives of children

who get abused or neglected and be able to change, save, and make a child’s life happy.

Now what is child abuse and neglect? Neglect is the ongoing failure to meet a child's basic

needs and is the most common form of child abuse. A child may be left hungry or dirty, without

adequate clothing, shelter, supervision, medical or health care. A child may be put in danger or not

protected from physical or emotional harm. Child Abuse and Neglect is an issue that that is

paralyzing our youth and their families. It is one that is present in every home or classroom in the

United States and even across the world.

In an article called, ‘Problems of Child Abuse in the Home”, by (Alekseeva, L. S., 2007)

stated, "Children make up the segment of society that is the most defenseless, vulnerable, and

completely dependent on adults. It is the fault of adults when children end up in areas of natural

disasters and and victims of physical, sexual, and emotional violence." In education today, as in

years past and surely in years to come, child abuse and neglect is and will be an overwhelming

epidemic. Teachers are faced daily with the prospect of having to call human services to report an

incident of child abuse and or neglect. Study after study has been conducted and an overwhelming

amount of them find that child abuse and neglect is a behavior that is handed down from generation

to generation and only with education can the behavior be broken.

Running Head: Child Abuse and Neglect 3

When I began doing my research I wanted to see the numbers that are associated with abuse

and neglect. I found that girls are at greater risk of sexual abuse then compared to boys. 20-25% of

girls and 5-15% of boys were sexually abused as children. An estimated 906,000 children are

victims of abuse and neglect every year. Then there's the rate of victimization which is 12.3 children

per 1,000 children as found by the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse Organization. I also

found that about 1,500 children die each year from child abuse which translates into four deaths per

day. Of the 1,500 children that die each year, 79% of these children are less than four years old.

I found that there can be many risk factors with child abuse and neglect. It is very important

to discuss risk factors and protective factors. (McDaniel and Dillenburger, 2014) states that,

“Children who are brought up by very young parents with no partner or family support or by a parent

who has learning difficulties are seen to be at increased risk of neglect" (p. 102). The risk of a child

being abused and/or neglected rises if there is poverty, social isolation, 3 unemployment, housing

problems, or lack of parental basic childcare skills. The trend is clear children who have young, poor

and or uneducated parents are at high risk of being neglected or abused. Being able to understand the

risk and protective factors for child abuse and neglect is important for developing effective

prevention interventions for vulnerable families.

In conclusion, I came across a site that we can all participate, as individuals to stop this

crime. It’s a website that stands for the rights of children. This website is by the Mercy home for

Boys and Girls’ annual March for Kids campaign, that is located in Chicago, Illinois. When you go

on their site you can pledge to help end abuse and neglect in the march. You may be able to change a

child’s life by just signing up and pledging to help no matter what cost.
Running Head: Child Abuse and Neglect 4

It states that anyone can play a role in ending this, and being able to go into discussion with

family and friends in order to save many young lives. With this you are able to help advocate more

policies and programs that promote healthy families and making sure that the child lives a long and

healthy life. I really enjoyed researching about this topic and being able to know who are affected

the most, where it occurs, what to do to help prevent child abuse and neglect and knowing how much

we can do to help any child dealing with this with a parent or guardian. We all want what is best for

our children, and I know that we can make a great impact in a child’s life, because no child should

deal with abuse or neglect at any age.

Indiana