Child Abuse and Its Types

One million children are abused every year, just in the United States. That one million are just the children that have spoken up about it. The other children are either too young to say anything and speak up for themselves or they are too scared. The victims of child abuse usually know their abusers. Weather it be a parent or another adult that are around often, these people are those who the child loves and trusts. The abuser does not have to be family; babysitters, teachers, and even the neighbor could be potential abusers.

There are many different types of child abuse, these include such things as physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. When most people think of physical abuse they think of striking,kicking or hitting a child. Physical abuse can also include holding a child underwater,tying a child up, intentionally burning or scalding a child with hot water, throwing an object at a child or using an object to beat a child or even starving a child or failing to provide a child with food. Compared to other forms of child abuse, physical abuse might be the most visible.

Many physically abusive parents say that their actions toward their children are merely an act of discipline, to try and make them behave. The child will never know what will set the abuser off, there aren't any clear boundaries set. The parent /abuser acts out in anger rather than motivation to lovingly teach the child, the angrier the abuser the more intense it will be on the child. Symptoms of physical abuse include unexplained injuries,injuries that don't match the explanation and untreated medical or dental problems.

Physical abuse is also associated with sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is any and every sort of sexual contact with a child. Sexual abuse could be a number of things. It could be Making a child pose or perform pornographic photos or videos, telling a child dirty jokes or stories, showing a childpornographic material, forcing a child to undress in front of them, or “flashing” a child. Children dealing with this type of abuse are often plagued with layers of guilt and shame. They often think that they brought this upon themselves somehow, this can lead to self loathing and relationships as the child grows older. Warning signs for sexual abuse in children may be,knowledge in sexual acts that are inappropriate for their age, making a strong efforts to avoid a certain person, doesn't want to change in front of others, an STD or pregnancy especially if they are under the age of 14.

Another form of child abuse is emotional abuse. Emotional abuse can be a pattern of behavior that has a negative effect on a child's physical and emotional health. Examples of emotional abuse in children are constant shaming and humiliating a child,calling names,telling the child that they aren't any good, yelling, bullying, threatening,or ignoring the child. Negative effects that occur when a child is being emotionally abused are, they might be excessively withdrawn or fearful about doing something wrong or doesn't seem to have attached to a parent. Emotional abuse can also cause depression as well as anxiety. Being constantly harassed by a parent could be very harmful to a child emotional health in the long run.