Invisible | Teen Ink

Invisible

January 8, 2014
By bagelfinaglemybagel BRONZE, Cambridge, Massachusetts
bagelfinaglemybagel BRONZE, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Imagine waking up in fear for 365 days a year until you are legal. Trying to survive the day with just few broken or injured bones and sweltering bruises. Imagine having the thought of death as a option. Wanting to die instead of wanting to live another day of your life. Imagine being hit and beaten over and over again your whole life for doing absolutely nothing.

Child abuse is on the rise. In the past about 16 years hospitalizations among children less than 1 year old increased 10.9 percent. Some studies show that physical abuse has decreased 23%. However, 23 % of child abuse isn’t that much of a difference than before and there are other types of child abuse other than physical. Approximately 80% of the children that die from child abuse are under 4 years old. Each young child with a future that could have been up to them, but the abuser took their life and the bright future that they had held with them. According to Childhelp usa founded by Sara o'meara and Yvonne fedderson, 30% of the time they will then abuse their own children when they are adults. Creating more children and many generations after that to be abused as well.
Child abuse isn't treated as much of crime as it actually is today. Every ten seconds a report is made about child abuse. When a report is made 50% of the time nothing or very little is done about it. Why isn’t beating a young innocent child being enforced. Why don’t we the do anything to help? Why do we keep letting it continue? A small way to help out a child in need is by reporting any suspicious behavior to a local child abuse or protection hotline and or local child welfare agency.

While child abuse causes some immediate issues such as, broken or injured bones, cuts, burns, scrapes, bruises. Child abuse also causes some long term issues. If a child is beaten in the head area, the brain can be injured. A hit to the head not only will make the child physically hurt but the child could either have: Gotten a concussion, lose memory, cause internal bleeding of the brain, and make the child emotionally hurt. Brigid Schulte, and D Tronick, a professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts stated: Research now shows that child abuse and neglect damages not only in the way a developing child’s brain functions, but changes the actual structure of the brain itself, in such a way that makes clear thinking, controlling emotions and impulses and forming healthy social relationships more difficult.
Emotional abuse.
Sexual abuse.
Physical abuse.
Child neglect abuse.

People think that child abuse is only physical abuse. Wrong. Child abuse consists of four different types of abuse. Each type of child abuse horrible and not ok. Physical abuse, sexual abuse and child neglect are the most common. Emotional abuse is harder to notice. Many children that are being abused become depressed and and start to not care about their own necessities. Depression is a cause from emotional abuse. Emotional abuse also consists: anxiety, chronic depression, or post- traumatic stress disorder. Although physical abuse can be life threatening. Many emotional abuse situations can not heal.
At the age of four, a women of the name nona was abused as a child. She had stated in her Shh It’s a Secret story “ I remember as early as the age of 4, my father was doing many things to me; I thought because he loved me, this was his way of saying it to me.”
Childrens minds can be manipulated into thinking that being abused was a good thing “I thought because he loved me” It is sickening. Horrifying. Unexplainable and horrible , how much Nona went through, she was beaten everyday with whatever her parents could find. Beating her while her blood was splattering onto the roof. After they brutally beat her they would put her in hot water and tell her not to scream. If she screamed... she would be beaten again. After the scorching hot water they then would dry her off them pour alcohol all over her. The pain doesn’t stop there her parents would sexually abuse her and her brothers making them do unexplainably disgusting things. All for absolutely no reason. She didn’t deserve this. She was only 4 when it all started. What would you do?

To many people don’t do anything about child abuse, Or even know how brutal it can be. What if you were in Nona’s situation? What would you do? Pray? People need to realise that child abuse is not only rising more and more people are getting away with it. Now Nona is 50 years old. She so far has helped 11 child abusers and molesters be put away. However, her youngest brother is on death row because, he became a serial killer. Her older brother went to jail for 17 years for murder. 6 years later he was killed. Lastly, her twin brother had anger issues and moved away.
Child abuse can lead to major things. Why can’t anyone see that.



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