Child Abuse

By Jasmine Delane  
   According to the Help Guide webpage, child abuse is a huge problem throughout the entire world. Child abuse consists of any act or failure to act that endangers a child’s physical or emotional health and development. A person caring for a child is abusive if he or she fails to nurture the child, physically injuries the child or relates sexually to the child.
   The four main types of abuse are physical, sexual, emotional, and neglect. These are all different in several ways. Physical abuse is any non-accidental physical injury to a child. Sexual abuse of a child is any sexual act between an adult and a child. The legal age of consent for two people to have sexual relations ranges from twelve to twenty-one, and varies by state within the United States and by country.
   Emotional abuse is any attitude, behavior, or failure to act on the part of the caregiver that interferes with a child’s mental health or social development. These can be categorized as verbal abuse, mental abuse, or psychological maltreatment or abuse. Emotional abuse can vary from a simple verbal insult to an extreme form of punishment. This kind of abuse is usually found with any of these other types of abuse.
   Neglect is a failure to provide for a child’s basic needs, such as physical, educational, emotional. Physical neglect deals with not providing for a child’s physical needs. Educational neglect is the failure to enroll a child of mandatory school age in school or to provide necessary special education. Emotional neglect is a lack of emotional support and love.
   If you would like to know more about this subject, you can visit www.helpguide.org.