Child Abuse 4
Judith is a battered 12-year-old who blames herself rather than her mother for her mother's constant and increasing physical abuse. Michael, one of her classmates, recently suffered from the emotional abuse of his severely critical father. Judith misses school often and keeps to herself. Oddly, she wears a turtleneck even on warm days and frequently has an excuse for getting out of gym. Yet, the mysterious girl reminds schoolmate Michael of a friend who had helped him break out of his shell of loneliness and inadequacy. As Michael befriends Judith and gradually chips away at her secrets, he finds a girl emotionally and physically bruised, and only when it's almost too late does he realize that Judith's mother is to blame. Set in Holland, Bruises is a wrenching portrait of a family in crisis. Although I was impatient for the adults in Judith's world to pick up on what is going on at home and act more decisively to help her, their hesitation and dim realization of her suffering are, perhaps, what is most realistic of all. Estimates of abuse range wildly depending on the source of ones information. From one to two million children per year are victims of child abuse. All sources agree on the simple truth that not nearly all
Many experts think that terrible pressures on today's family are partly to blame for the excess of abuse in today's families. Physical abuse is termed sexual abuse when it involves the display or touching of genitalia or anything which is not a comfortable part of a normal person to person contact. "The effect that child abuse has not just on the victims, but on their subsequent victims and on society as a whole, is, in my judgment, far more devastating than the threat of drugs, of political upheaval, of economic disaster, or of environmental destruction... I really think that child abuse is the most significant threat not just to the quality of life in this country, but to life in this country." Neglect is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment. A recent Study prepared by the American Humane Association states that, nationwide, neglect consistently has accounted for the greatest number of maltreatment reports; in 1988 alone it represented sixty three percent of the approximately two million cases of reported incidents of the three predominant forms of child maltreatment: physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. Neglect is the unlawful withholding of a child's basic needs. Food, Water, Shelter, Clothing; these are all things that a child needs to live an effective life in today's society. To deny a child these things is to leave him lower on the ladder of needs than he or she would conceivably be otherwise. Neglect is by far more prominent than any other forms of child maltreatment, but, continually it is the least prominent villain in child abuse advertising schemes. Why are people so unwilling to admit this problem? Why do Americans consistently look overseas and across borders when sending their charitable donations? The problem is here! It is not imagined. Unlike the demons who lurk in the darkness of children's closets, this villain will not vanish at the flip of a light switch. Many of these children do not have their own closets or lights. Mental Abuse of a child can involve several different activities. These can involved the common verbal forms, yelling, neglect, constant insults, etc. They also involve certain forms of mental torture and neglect. Mental abuse is one of the most damaging forms of abuse, because unlike rape or other forms of sexual or physical abuse, mental abuse will be with you all of your life. I would offer this analogy to shed light what I am trying to communicate here. Physica
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Approximate Word count = 1677
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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