Child Abuse

Child abuse is harm to, or neglect of, a child by another person, whether adult or child. Child abuse happens in all cultural, ethnic, and income groups. Child abuse can be physical, emotional - verbal, sexual or through neglect. Abuse may cause serious injury to the child and may even result in death.
Most of us can’t imagine what would make adult use violence against a child, and the worse the behavior is, the more unimaginable it seems. But the incidence of parents and other caregivers consciously, even willfully, committing acts that harm the very children they’re supposed to be nurturing is a sad fact of human society that cuts across all lines of ethnicity and class. Whether the abuse is rooted in the perpetrator’s mental illness, substance abuse, or inability to cope, the psychological result for each abused child is often the same, deep emotional scars and a feeling of worthlessness.
Abuse can happen in any family, regardless of any special characteristics. However, in dealing with parents, be aware of characteristics of families in which abuse may be more likely:
Families who are isolated and have no friends, relatives, church or other support systems.
Parents who tell you they were abused as children.
Families who are often in crisis (have money problems, move often).
Parents who abuse drugs or alcohol.
Parents who are very critical of their child.
Parents who are very rigid in disciplining their child.
Parents who show too much or too little concern for their child.
Parents who feel they have a difficult child.
Parents who are under a lot of stress.


Why would someone abuse a defenseless child? What kind of person abuses a child? Not all child abuse is deliberate or intended. Several factors in a person's life may combine to cause them to abuse a child:
Stress, including the stress of caring for children, or the stress of caring for a child with a disability, special needs, or difficult behaviors
Lack of nurturing qualities necessary for child care
Immaturity: a disproportionate number of parents who abuse their children are teenagers
Difficulty controlling anger
Personal history of being abused
Isolation from the family or community
Physical or mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety
Alcohol or drug abuse
Personal problems such as marital conflict, unemployment, or financial difficulties.
No one has been able to predict which of these factors will cause someone to abuse a child. A significant factor is that abuse tends to be intergenerational – those who were abused as children are more likely to repeat the act when they become parents or caretakers.
In addition, many forms of child abuse arise from ignorance. Sometimes a cultural tradition leads to abuse. Such beliefs include:
Children are property.
Parents (especially fathers) have the right to control their children in any way they wish.
Children need to be toughened up to face the hardships of life.
Girls need to be genitally mutilated to assure virginity and later marriage.


Tragedy of My Third Eye by Suchen Christine Lim..

I have read the Tragedy of My Third Eye by Suchen Christine Lim that narrates the story based on child abuse. In the story, it shows that a six years old child, Ping who has been abuse by people around her such as her mother, teacher, neighbors and friends. At school, her friend, Linda who can speak English so well compared to Ping who couldn’t speak a word of English. Because of that, her teacher, Miss Wang called her ‘stupido’. Then, Miss Wang just focus on Linda because she is clever and neglected others student especially Ping. As a result, Linda becoming arrogant and bullying their friend by choose to be her slave or enemy and Ping is one of them. When Ping refuses to being her slave, Linda was very angry and even scolded to those who looked at her.
Besides that, at Ping’s home, she had been abuse by her Mother who is actually her aunt, Ah Koo. She was the woman who forced Ping to live with her. Then, she treated Ping badly like push her into the room, locked the door and caned her without mercy that Ping’s was injured by brushing her legs until broken her skin. Other than that, at the age of six, Ping has to make her breakfast by herself and she always being scolded by her auntie. Her auntie also keep force her to bath and eat. So, Ping became scared to her auntie and just follows what she said although she can’t make it.

Article from newspaper...

Another issue on child abuse is in the New Straits Times, Thursday, September 25, 2008. The headline of this article is ‘Teacher hit me, says student’. This incident happened at Kuala Terengganu, 17 years old student; Zaim Junaidi Ibrahim claimed that the teacher then punched him at the face, causing his lips bleed, and kicked him in the torso while warning him not to be ill-mannered.
Following the incident, Zaim called his father who rushed to the school in Wakaf Tembusu. Zaim’s father said he lodged a report at the Gong Badak police station after meeting the principle, who promised to investigate the matter.
The similarity of the Tragedy of My Third Eye by Suchen Christine Lim and the article from News Straits Times is both of the stories are a child abuse. But the cases are different. Ping faces neglected abuse such as lack of medical or dental care, she also lack of attention by her auntie. For example, he needs to prepare her breakfast by herself not like other kids who being served by their mother. Whereas, the types of child abuse that Zaim faced is physical abuse by his teacher at school. Physical child abuse is an adult’s physical act of aggression directed at a child that causes injury, even if the adult didn’t intend to injure the child. Such acts of aggression include striking a child with the hand, fist, or foot or with an object.
Other than that, Ping also faced emotional child abuse that involves behavior that interferes with a child’s mental health or social development. Such abuse can range from verbal insults to acts of terror, and it’s almost always a factor in the other three categories of abuse. While emotional abuse by itself doesn’t involve the infliction of physical pain or inappropriate physical contact, it can have more long-lasting negative psychological effects than either physical abuse or sexual abuse. For example, by verbal abuse like belittling or shaming the child name-calling, making negative comparisons to others, telling the child he or she is “no good," "worthless," "a mistake."
Emotional abuse comes not only from adults but from other children: siblings, neighborhood (Linda’s father) or schoolyard bullies (Linda), and peers in schools that permit a culture of social ostracism the “mean girl” syndrome. The signs of emotional child abuse include apathy, depression, and hostility. It is happens at Ping’s school, and Ping is reluctant to go to school and develop or fake a physical complaint.
Child abuse can produce dire consequences during the victim’s childhood and adulthood. Some effects of child abuse are obvious, a child is malnourished or has a cast on her arm, a nine-year-old develops a sexually transmitted disease. But some physiological effects of child abuse, such as cognitive difficulties or lingering health problems, may not show up for some time or be clearly attributable to abuse. Other effects of child abuse are invisible or go off like time bombs later in life.

Just as all types of child abuse have an emotional component, all affect the emotions of the victims. These effects include low self-esteem, depression and anxiety, aggressive behavior/anger issues, relationship difficulties, alienation and withdrawal, personality disorders, clinginess, neediness, flashbacks and nightmares.
Many adults who were abused as children find it difficult to trust other people, endure physical closeness, and establish intimate relationships. Child abuse can play itself out not only in how its victims feel but in what they do years later. Children who suffer abuse have much greater chances of being arrested later as juveniles and as adults. Significant percentages of inmates in U.S. prisons were abused as children. One of every three abused or neglected children will grow up to become an abusive parent.