What is Child Abuse?

Informative Speech

Moriah Gonzalez

 

Imagine you find out someone close to you is being abused by their parent or parents. What do you do? This is a new situation for you, but it would be wrong not to help in any way you can at least a little bit. You want to be there for them, but you don’t even know the first thing they're going through. How can you help a situation like that? Parental abuse goes a lot deeper than most would realize. Yes, some of it has to do with beating, yelling, and neglecting a kid, but there is a lot more to it than that. According to Child Advocates of Montgomery County, there are four main types of parental abuse; Physical, emotional, neglect, and sexual (National Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children). The names are pretty straightforward, but there are hidden aspects in each of these categories that are not spoken about enough.

​

Physical abuse is exactly what you would expect it to be, exactly what it sounds like, and a lot more common than you would think. It’s maybe changing in the locker room and seeing bruises litter your friend where their shirt would normally cover, or it could be subtle moves parents make in public that force their child to flinch. You’ve probably seen it in some form or another, whether in a book, T.V show, or in real life. Physical abuse is what the entertainment industry uses most frequently when they want to get across to the audience that a certain person is an antagonist. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network states that “Legal definitions vary from state to state, but broadly, physical abuse occurs when a parent or caregiver commits an act that results in physical injury to a child, such as red marks, welts, or broken bones, even if the injury was unintentional” (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network). Physical abuse is the easiest to spot, with the obvious being frequent bruising, cuts, scrapes, etc, however it is also about body language. Look for the unspoken reactions in a person like flinching at loud noises or sudden movements. Mayo Clinic provides ways to spot any potential abuse like “Withdrawal from friends or usual activities, aggression, hyperactivity, depression, unusual fears, or reluctance to leave school activities,” (Mayo Clinic). Physical parental abuse is the most common form of abuse. The most common form to be talked about, to be analysed. Despite how important it is to talk about physical abuse, there are other more unseen issues on the topic of parental abuse.

​

Unlike Physical abuse, emotional abuse is a little more subtle in most cases, not as obvious. Emotional abuse is a mom or dad guilting their children into doing something they don’t want to do. Like a mother guilting her daughter into going into a situation where she is uncomfortable. Or a parent perhaps arguing with their kid and manipulating them into taking blame. Emotional parental abuse is a little lesser known, detail wise, however, there is some general knowledge as to what it can look like and feel like. According to the Mayo Clinic, their definition of emotional abuse is “injuring a child's self-esteem or emotional well-being. It includes verbal and emotional assault — such as belittling or berating a child — as well as isolating, ignoring or rejecting a child” (Mayo Clinic). Of course, the list of emotional abuse acts could go on, however, a few notable ones are things like gaslighting, or not acknowledging the child’s feelings. Some signs of emotional abuse in the victim, “Delayed emotional development, loss of self-confidence, social withdrawal, depression, avoidance of certain situations, [and] desperately seeks affection” (Mayo Clinic). Emotional abuse, or variations of it, can be found in a lot of family homes, whether it is frequent yelling, or manipulation. While it is an important issue to take note of, it is also important to note that emotional abuse can also take the shape of many different matters. 

​

Like the previous types, this type of abuse, neglect, is exactly what it sounds like. However, much like emotional abuse, there are some hidden subtopics that pertain to the subject of neglect. It could be medical neglect, maybe a kid broke his arm and was refused medical help by his parents, or it could be financial neglect, where the child is forced to pay the bills instead of the guardian. Mayo Clinic provides a suitable definition being, “Child neglect is failure to provide adequate food, shelter, affection, supervision, or medical care” (Mayo Clinic). Neglect is a parent failing to give the basic items and necessities a child needs in order to grow up happy and healthy, however, there is also the topic of financial neglect. Financial neglect is not being able to pay for utilities, housing or health services or anything else a child may need. This certain type of neglect is not always purposeful, however, it is still classified as neglect. Mayo Clinic provides us with signs of abuse, this being “Poor growth, poor hygiene, lack of clothing or supplies, taking food without permission, [and] hiding food for later” (Mayo Clinic). Neglect is the type of abuse that when looked at, is looked at as a whole, like what is happening to the family that caused this or what is their financial situation? Not all of these cases are so black and white.

 

Lastly, we have sexual parental abuse. Obviously, this is a touchy subject, especially for a thesis, but needs to be talked about nonetheless. I can imagine that most of you know what sexual abuse with a parent consists of. Signs, provided by RAINN, regarding sexual abuse in children- “Excessive talk about or knowledge of sexual topics, not talking as much as usual, not wanting to be left alone with certain people or being afraid to be away from primary caregivers, regressive behaviors, sexual behavior that is inappropriate for the child’s age, change in eating habits, [and] excessive fearfulness” (Warning Signs for Young Children). Of course, this is a hard topic to speak about, but if it was not talked about, it would fly under the radar, unnoticed.

All of this, in general, is a hard topic, and one that is not often talked about in a public setting, yet is it one that needs to be talked about so change can happen. Even if nothing changes, it is still extremely important to at least gain a bit of knowledge about these issues, that way, if a situation ever arises where someone you know, or even yourself, is in trouble, you can assess the situation and try to help in the best way you can.