In 1997, over 3 million children were reported for child abuse and neglect to child protective service agencies in the United States. This figure represents a 1.7% increase over the number of children reported in 1996. Child abuse reporting levels have increased 41% between 1988 and 1997. In 1997, 1,054,000 children were confirmed by Child Protective Services as victims of child maltreatment. This represents 15 out of every 1,000 U.S. citizens (Wang).

A recent survey commissioned by Prevent Child Abuse America found the following when surveying parents randomly by telephone. Thirty seven percent of American parents had reported insulting or swearing at their children within the past twelve months. Fifty percent of the parents had neglected their child's emotional needs, with sixty percent of the respondents indicating that this neglect took place "a

What makes people abuse children? It is difficult to imagine that any person would intentionally inflict harm on his or her own child. Many times, physical abuse is a result of excessive discipline or physical punishment that is inappropriate for the child's age. The parent may simply be unaware of the magnitude of force with which he or she strikes a child. Most parents want to be good parents but sometimes lose control and are unable to cope. Factors which contribute to child abuse include the immaturity of parents, lack of parenting skills, unrealistic expectations about children's behavior and capabilities, a parent's own negative childhood experience, social isolation, frequent family crises and drug or alcohol problems. Child abuse is a symptom that parents are having difficulty coping with their situation.

Sexual abuse most commonly occurs by an individual known by the victim, parent or other family member. Rarely is the abuser a stranger. Inter familial and incest sexual abuse is difficult to document and manage because the child needs to be protected from additional abuse and coercion to not reveal or deny the abuse, while attempts are made to preserve the family unit. Children themselves may also decide to recant their recent accusations of abuse due to fear of retaliation by the perpetrator or other family members. They may also recant out of fear of losing contact with the perpetrator who is commonly a family member or close friend tied to the family by various social means (Anderson).

2. Educational Neglect - occurs when a child is allowed to engage in chronic truancy, is of mandatory school age but not enrolled in school or receiving needed special educational training. Educational neglect can lead to underachievement in acquiring necessary basic skills, dropping out of school and/or continually disruptive behavior.

Non touching sexual abuse offenses include

5. Educate all that work with children and families, including teachers, service providers, and health care professionals about the interplay between domestic violence and child abuse(AAPC).

Some common words found in the essay are:
Century Children, Corrupting Parents, Abuse America, Department Justice, Data System, Baby Syndrome, Post Neglect, , Emotional Neglect, Medical Neglect, child abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, violence child, abuse children, domestic violence child, child protective, shaken baby syndrome, child maltreatment, baby syndrome, violence child abuse, protective service agencies, child protective services,
Approximate Word count = 4947
Approximate Pages = 20 (250 words per page double spaced)