"It shouldn't hurt to be a child." At least it
             shouldn't in a perfect world. However, that is not where we
             live. Child Abuse is defined as a deliberate attempt to
             inflict harm to a child for which there is no "reasonable"
             explanation. There are essentially three types of abuse:
             physical, emotional, and sexual. The most prevalent being
             physical abuse. The United States reports over 3 million
             cases of physical child abuse every year1. The first cases
             being those that were labeled "battered-child syndrome2."
             These cases are, however, only the reported cases. To
             understand physical child abuse, we must ask ourselves:
             "Where does abuse come from and what are the effects"? This
             paper will hopefully shed light on the subject.
             During the very ancient cultures, children have rarely
             been looked upon as important members of the given society.
             Infanticide, or the killing of babies, used to be a common
             practice among foreign countries3. The United States has
             traditionally not been a country to agree with killing its
             children but abuse has never been a stranger. "Spare the
             rod and spoil the child." This is a strong quote dating
             back to when Puritans first settled the eastern United
             States. Then parents would regularly whip or beat their
             kids to prevent them from becoming lazy. In 1646, a law was
             passed in Massachusetts called the Stubborn Child Act4. This
             law stated that any child seen as rude, lazy, or
             disobedient could be legally beaten to death by their
             parents. This law was not repealed until the 1970's. This
             was not seen as cruel or horrible but as a means to keep
             discipline among the ranks of the family.
             There is now a more distinct difference between the
             old definition of child abuse and the more recent meaning.
             Basically, child abuse did not exist until the middle of
             the nineteen...