OK! Today on my way back from church, when i got to my street I saw a woman beating a little boy mercilessly with a broom, I felt really bad and tried to stop her before she'd hurt the boy and you wouldn't believe what happened, she almost hit me with the broom and with anger in her eyes she told me to stay away and mind my business. Well, to avoid more trouble, I stayed away. I was later told that the boy is her nephew and his parents live in the village, so he had to stay with her since his parents could barely afford a square-meal for him and his siblings. To cut the long story short, she was beating him 'cause she sent him on an errand and he didn't run. Imagine, who beats a child that way cause the child refused to run when going on an errand for you and things like this happens a lot, recently I read a news online of a lady that used hot iron on her house girl who is barely 15years old, this is not right, a lot of life's and dreams has been shattered cause of incidents like this, child abuse. Well the incident of today inspired this post CHILD ABUSE.
sourceChild abuse is the act of maltreating a child physically, emotionally and sexually. Child abuse is being harmed by a person who is supposed to be responsible for taking care of the child either parent, guidian or foster parents and at times the maltreatment tends to cause a long-term or permanent damage.
Child abuse is a major factor that affects children today, most child abuse victims are abused by either parents, relatives, teachers or friends. There are various types of child abuse;
PHYSICAL ABUSE : Physical abuse is a type of abuse in which physical force is used against a child which occasionally causes harm to the childs health. Such abuse includes beating, kicking, hitting, burning and so on. Physical abuse at times results in bruises, injuries, fractures and in some cases death.
SEXUAL ABUSE : In sexual abuse a child is forcefully engaged in sexual activity, either by an older adolescent or an adult. Sexual abuse can traumatize a child leading to self-injury, nightmares, insomnia, low self-esteem, suicidal ideation and so on.
PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE : This kind of abuse involves telling a child repeatedly that they're worthless, unwanted, unloved and so on, thereby causing the child to feel pain(not physical pain). Such abuse tends to cause a defect in the childs growth. The effects might include self-blame for the abuse, learned helplessness and overly passive behavior.
NEGLECT : Neglect is when a child lacks adequate attention, love and care from parents, guidian or other people responsible for the child. A child is been neglected when he or she is not provided with the adequate necessity to survive which in most cases includes love. Such children might experience delay in their psychosocial and physical development.
PREVENTING CHILD ABUSE
- Report every suspected case of child abuse
- Read more about parenting to educate and help you understand your role as a parent and a guidian.
- Try to organise, support and promote child abuse prevention programs.
A lot of life's and dreams has been distroyed as a result of child abuse, we need to try our best to stop child abuse and create a better future for children.