Remember when you were a child, and try to remember what your biggest fear was.

The one fear

that made your whole body shakes uncontrollably to the point where you couldn’t take it anymore.
Now imagine having to live with that fear every single day of your life.‘‘Childhood should be
carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.’’ This was stated by
Dave Pelzer, who is the author of the book ‘‘A Child Called it.’’ Pelzer’s words really mean that
children should have a playful and loving childhood.

Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury,
death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child. There are 2 main types of abuse that I want
to share. The first one is physical abuse. Any use of physical force against a child that doesn’t happen
by accident and causes injury. Overlapping definitions of physical abuse and physical punishment of
children highlight a subtle or non-existent distinction between abuse and punishment, but most
physical abuse is physical punishment "in intent, form, and effect involves hitting, with the hand or
with an implement – whip, stick, belt, shoe, wooden spoon, etc. But it can also involve, for example,
kicking, shaking or throwing children, scratching, pinching, biting, pulling hair or boxing ears, forcing
children to stay in uncomfortable positions, burning, scalding or forced ingestion

The second one is sexual abuse. Any type of sexual involvement or contact between a child and an
adult. Sexual abuse can be voyeurism (spying on or watching a child), sexual acts and incest (sex
between family members). Example, asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities
(regardless of the outcome), indecent exposure of the genitals to a child, displaying pornography to
a child, actual sexual contact with a child, physical contact with the child's genitals, viewing of the
child's genitalia without physical contact, or using a child to produce child pornography. Selling the
sexual services of children may be viewed and treated as child abuse rather than simple
incarceration.

How can we prevent it? The first step is training preventing. These types of programmes generally
educate parents on child development and help them improve their skills in managing their
children’s behaviour. For instance, in Singapore education and training in parenting begins in
secondary school, with ‘‘preparation for parenthood’’ classes. Students learn about child care and
development, and gain direct experience by working with young children at preschool and child care
centres.

The second step is raise the awareness around student community that this is a wide spread
problem and can happen to anyone at any time. Often the perpetrators are the most unexpected
faces. There should be a good understanding about to what extend others can behave with us and
we should realize what good and bad touches are. If we think that the line is crossed we should have
the courage to respond or at least avoid the scene to prevent the situation from getting worse.

Child abuse is a serious global health problem. Although most studies on it have been conducted in
developed countries, there is compelling evidence that the phenomenon is common throughout the
world. Abuse or neglect hurts children in many ways. Young children are at special risk. They may
not grow properly. They may have learning problems. They may feel bad about themselves and not
trust other people. They may be scared or angry. Sometimes they die. It is up to adults who care to
protect them. Let’s all dream about a society where there is zero child abuse. Let’s all join together
and work towards it.