Imagine being a young child. Picture that someone is mistreating you, and you are
completely unable to retaliate in any way. Imagine what would be running through
your mind, all of the fear and hatred that you can do nothing with except hold it all
inside. The United States government defines child abuse specifically as "[a]ny
recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death,
serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation to any individual
who has not attained the age of 18 years, or an act or failure to act which presents
an imminent risk of serious harm to any individual who has not attained the age of
18 years" (Petit 28). This is a serious problem that destroys the lives of innocent
Statistics show that 903,395 children were confirmed as being abused in the
United States during 1997 alone, and there were 1,439,284 reported instances of
abuse in the United States (Statistics of...). Those numbers add out to be in the
neighborhood of 1.54% of the nations children being abused daily (Statistics of...).
Child abuse also "accounts for nearly 57.5% of fatalities to children under the age of
five" (Child Maltreatment). Experts also say that "87.1% of abused children are
abused by both the mother and father" (Statistics of...). Roughly 2.7% of child
abuse occurs in foster care (Statistics of...).
The most abundant form of child abuse is neglect. Neglect accounts for
53.5% of child abuse nationwide (Child Maltreatment). Neglect is defined as:
"[a] child less than 18 years of age whose physical, mental or emotional
condition has been impaired or is in danger of becoming impaired as a result
of the failure of the child's legal guardian to exercise a minimum degree of
care in supplying the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or education
or medical care. Neglect also occurs when t...