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Melody Do

Vyvial-7th

English 1302

7 May 2019

Children in Need

Child abuse has been going for decades and still continue to be a big problem in the

homes of children. It can take on forms such as neglect, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse of a

person under the age of 18 by an adult. There needs to be an increase in awareness on this topic

before it gets worse. There are millions of cases on child abuse: “A report of child abuse is made

every ten seconds” (O’meara) and there is still no solution. Parents’ personal childhood

experience, mental illnesses, misuse of substance and alcohol, and poor living conditions are the

reasons why children are getting mistreated and neglected.

There are many reasons as to why child abuse is happening, but there needs to be a closer

examination as to why adults are doing this. Parents abuse their child mostly because they were

also abused themselves as a child. As a result, the parents will do the same thing and get passed

on throughout generations in their family. Because it is passed on through generations, more

children will get abused and the risks factors will go up. With more children getting abused, it

will become a widespread problem. Because it is a widespread problem, a lot of children will get

harmed or cause harm to themselves from the abuse. As a result, the abuse can ruin their life and

create a negative impact for them. Because child abuse is an issue, parents need to find a way to

stop what they are doing to their children.

Some actions may seem little, but will actually make a big impact to stop child abuse.

When a child is abused, the parent might not know that they are abusing their child and think that
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they are doing nothing wrong. In other cases, parents do acknowledge what is happening, but do

not care. The child might talk to a close friend or family member about the situation and see

what they can do to help. Although having another adult talk to the parent might work,

sometimes it does not always work out that way. Instead, parents should practice having a

stronger bond with their children. Spending time with family can help parents develop:

“parenting skills, understand the benefits of nonviolent discipline techniques, and understand and

meet their child’s need” (Susan Orr). For example, as a family, can go to community services or

organizations, family support centers, or even getting involved with the children’s school. The

PIDP (Prevention Initiative Demonstration Project) did evaluations on families and found that:

“Parents reported significantly initial gains in family support, connections to the community, and

less parenting stress after 6 months of participating in social networking groups” (McCroskey).

At home, parents and their kids can build a calendar where there are activities to do each day as a

family. Another example would to be a more nurturing parent. Help the child feel loved by

congratulating their accomplishments or telling them they are appreciated even if the children

does something wrong. Parents should listen to what the child has to say and not be quick to

intervene. Although creating time to spend with family might work on lessening the child abuse,

there are things that can go wrong. The parent might not agree to all the things suggested and get

frustrated at the child too quick. The child could also be stubborn and not listen to what the

parent is saying and do whatever they please; resulting in the parent having no choice but to take

action and discipline them to the extent of which it is too harsh sometimes. It all depends on how

the parent and child are willing to cope together to solve the problem of child abuse.

Stopping child abuse early, can prevent it more from happening later on in future

families. Ocassionally when a child is abused by their parent, it is because the parent does not
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know how to properly raise the child. Parenting can be hard and “is a challenging job on its own.

No one expects you to know how to do it all” (Orr). They have problems of their own like

substance and alcohol abuse, using a bunch of profanity in front of children, and are violent. All

of these things will cause the child to ultimately be afraid of their own parents. Rather than

continuing the abuse, parents should look at other options to help. One example would be to get

help with their drug and alcohol addiction by going to support groups or get treatment from

professionals. By being sober, it will allow the parents to be more open-minded and clearly see

what is happening. If the parents continued to use drugs and drink alcohol around the house, the

children might get into the habitat of getting addicted just like their parents. Additionally, parents

should cut out all violence in the house. They should monitor what children are watching and not

do the same thing in real life. Parents should also not say any profanity in front of children since

they might copy what the adults are saying. If parents are having issues of their own which

causes them to abuse their child, the parents should consider going to counseling to help with

whatever is on their mind. By going to see a therapist, it allows the parents to express their

emotions in a counseling session instead of taking it out on the children. Even though these are

solutions that parents can try, adults with drug and alcohol abuse might have a hard time quitting,

making it harder to stop the abuse. Also, parents might not want to go to counseling because it

will be embarrassing or think it is a waste of time. In the end, parents should do whatever it takes

to be a good mother or father to their child.

Understanding the different types of child abuse will help parents know when it is

happening. Failure to provide the necessities for the child such as food, clothes, shelter, and

others will also cause problems in the future. If the parent is new to parenting then they should

join a support group to help with what they need to do to be successful. An organization called
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The Shaken Baby Alliance helps “victim families and professionals, promotes prevention of

child abuse and seeks justice for the innocent victims of child abuse” (Murrah). Parents’ also

need to get control of themselves before punishing a child. By letting the child know the rules

around the house, it will let children know what the parents expect of them and what will happen

if they break it. Although, disciplining children is okay, trying to avoid physical punishing is the

best way to stop child abuse. For instance, if the child breaks a rule, instead of parents putting

their hands on them, they could ground them, give more chores, or letting them know what to do

next time. Another solution to stopping child abuse is to take a break from children and focus on

themselves. This will help relieve the stress from parenting and not let parents lose their mind

because “most physical abuse occurs when the parent loses control” (McKinney). An example

would be if the parent can, should call someone if they feel like they need a break for a few

minutes so that they can have time to cool down. Doing this will allow the parent to have time to

get things done and not get overwhelmed. This might work for a while, but one day the parents

might act out of frustration and forget to calm down, then might hit the child and say things that

can cause damaging or emotional scars for the child. The parents would have to practice to not

put the child in any harm.

Out of all possible solutions mentioned, being a nurturing parent is the best option to stop

child abuse. Parents spending time with their children and creating a bond, getting involved in

the child’s life, and helping the child feel loved will not only help the child grow up and make

good decisions, but it will help the parents grow as well. This solution is not perfect and things

can go wrong, but this is the best way to put a decline on the issue. It might take some time for

the parent and child to open up to each other and cooperate, but when they do, the outcome will
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be worth it. Every parent has the possibility to be a nurturing parent, but it is how the parent

decides to raise their child.

Parents lifestyle growing up, illnesses, addiction to drugs and alcohol, and poor homes

are the reasons why children are getting abused. Child abuse is becoming a big problem all over

the world and needs to be put to an end as soon as possible. Being a nurturing parent will put an

end to child abuse. It will bring out the best of the parents’ ability and help the child grow

throughout his or her life without any mistreatment.

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Works Cited

McCroskey, Jacquelyn, et al. “Strengthening Families and Communities to Prevent Child Abuse

and Neglect: Lessons from the Los Angeles Prevention Initiative Demonstration Project.”

Child Welfare, vol. 91, no. 2, Jan. 2012, pp. 39–60. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ991024&site=ehost-live.

McKinney, Jennifer. “Patient’s Page. How to Prevent Child Abuse.” Southern Medical Journal,

vol. 99, no. 4, Apr. 2006, p. 407. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmedm&AN=16634256&site=ehost-live.

Murrah, Julianne. “Organization Presents Program to Help Prevent Child Abuse.” Graham

Leader, vol. 137, no. 5, 2 Sept. 2012, p. 1A. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tih&AN=79782983&site=ehost-live.

O'meara, Sara, and Yvonne Fedderson. “Child Abuse Statistics.” Childhelp, 1959,

www.childhelp.org/child-abuse-statistics/.

Orr, Susan. “What Everyone Can Do to Prevent Child Abuse.” Childwelfare, 2004,

www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/2004guide.pdf.