Being a kid is supposed to be the best time in a person’s life. No responsibilities, no bills, no worries. It’s supposed to be a time when life is good, friends are plentiful, and the worst worries are the fear of whether the teacher will give a pop test in class the next day, or if eating that next piece of chocolate will cause another pimple or not. What childhood is not supposed to be is a time of fear, of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse; unfortunately that is exactly what it is for many children around the world. The sad thing is that most victims of child abuse are attacked by a parent, other family member, or neighbor; and more recently it’s been discovered that those authority figures that were once trusted with the care of children, including teachers and clergy, are also guilty of exploiting and abusing children.
Statistics
Statistics on child abuse are very difficult to determine because it’s such a secreted plague. More than 3.3 million reports are filed in the United States alone each year on over six million children – oftentimes the reports are on multiple children in one household, and on an average daily basis, five children die due to child abuse or neglect. Nearly 80 percent of the childhood deaths are a result of child abuse in children under four years of age and only a small percentage are actually recorded on the death certificate. Over 90 percent of sexual abuse cases in children are perpetrated by a family member or someone known to the child. The most overwhelming statistics is that many children suffer from multiple forms of abuse, and the percentages include:
- 78.3% due to neglect
- 17.6% due to physical abuse
- 9.2% due to sexual abuse
- 8.1% due to psychological abuse
- 2.4% due to medical neglect
- 10.3% due to a variety of other causes of combinations of abuse
In an overwhelming statistic, it’s estimated that on an annual basis that over $125 billion is spent on child abuse-related treatment and court costs each year. The most startling statistic of all is that abuse transcends race, social status, financial status, and religious preferences.
Future of Abused Children
Much of the abuse or neglect of children is a generational issue – parents abuse or neglect their own children because they were treated the same way when they were growing up. Their parents abused them because they were mistreated by their parents, and on it goes for multiple generations until someone puts a stop to the mistreatment. Children who are victims of repeated child abuse have a 30% chance of participating in violent crimes as an adult, and a 60% chance of committing crimes as a juvenile. When prisoner across the country are studied, over 35% of female prisoners and 15% of male prisoners were abused in some form as children. These abused children have a teenage pregnancy of rate of nearly 25 – significantly higher than children from stable homes who have never been abused. Abused children also have a higher rate of sexually transmitted diseases, as well as teen suicides.
Preventing Child Abuse
There are many groups all over the country who are actively engaged in involving teachers, coaches, nurses, doctors, and even store owners and fast food workers to spot and report suspected child abuse. They have programs for parents who are abusers to get counseling in an effort to stop the parent from continuing the practice and many programs for children who have been mistreated to have tools to understand their feelings and how to more effectively cope with their former situation. The goal of these groups is to educate people in the community to recognize the signs of abuse and work with authorities to protect the children and get them some help and coping mechanisms before they continue the generational pattern.
Advocacy Centers and Treatment Facilities
There are a wide variety of advocacy centers that are very effective in creating a comfortable and safe environment for the child while the abuser is undergoing investigation and/or treatment. These are generally much less traumatic on the child than a hospital or police station and the staff at these facilities are trained and uniquely experienced to understand exactly what they child has been through and know what needs to be done to help them. For severely abused children who need in-patient treatment there are a variety of treatment facilities that use equine therapy with specially trained horses, art therapy, music therapy, education, and a multitude of other means to provide a path to healing for the child and help prevent further abuse.
