ISSUES: ABUSE

ABUSE:

• Child abuse is reported on an average of every 10 seconds and three children die every day as a result of such abuse

• 3,000,000 cases of child abuse and neglect were reported in this country last year, and 2,000 children died as a result of that abuse.

• Children who are abused are more likely to have behavior problems, become teen parents, juvenile delinquents, drug and alcohol abusers, and child abusers themselves

• Each week, child protective services (CPS) agencies throughout the United States receive more than 50,000 reports of suspected child abuse or neglect

• In 2002, 2.6 million reports concerning the welfare of approximately 4.5 million children were made.

• 896,000 children were found to have been victims of abuse or neglect—an average of more than 2,450 children per day.

• More than half (60 percent) of victims experienced neglect, meaning a caretaker failed to provide for the child's basic needs

• Fewer victims experienced physical abuse (nearly 20 percent) or sexual abuse (10 percent), though these cases are typically more likely to be publicized.

• The smallest number (7 percent) were found to be victims of emotional abuse, which includes criticizing, rejecting, or refusing to nurture a child.

• An average of nearly four children die every day as a result of child abuse or neglect (1,400 in 2002).

• Children younger than 1 year old accounted for 41 percent of all abuse-related deaths reported in 2002; three-quarters (76 percent) of those killed were younger than 4.

• Many reports (44 percent) came from nonprofessional sources, such as parents, other relatives, friends, and neighbors. Anonymous reports accounted for 10 percent of all reports in 2002.

I think that all these example really show how common abuse is, and how serious of a topic the abuse really is, especially in today’s world. I think that Crutcher was smart to include this in his book, because it gives kids who read it an opportunity to learn more about the abuse. Although I think that he was smart to include it in his book, I also think that a better way to have included it would be treating it more like a serious issues than he did. By reading the information above, I think that Crutcher probably done some research and found out how common child abuse is, and should have incorporated more into his book that it is wrong, serious, and can result in death.




WORK CITED:

Crutcher, Chris. Stotan!

"National Child Abuse Statistics".Childhelp.Online. Internet. 15 Jan. 2008. Available: http://www.childhelp.org/resources/learning-center/statistics

http://www.childabuse.org/about%20child%20abuse.html

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childabuse.html

http://www.sfcapc.org/

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/childabuse/a/05_abuse_stats.htm