Alvarez 1

Carolina Alvarez

Massey- Jimenez

12/10/2017

ENC 1101

Awareness on child abuse

Child abuse is a topic that needs more awareness. Its become a problem that could lead

to serious consequences including suicide. Parents as well as teacher should be more aware of

what is going on in a childs life. Bulling in schools has become a serious matter but can be

stopped with the right help. No child should be thinking about ending their life at such an earlier

age or at any age. Being more involve in a childs life can benefit them to have a healthy growing

relationship. Bullying behaviors may be directed at a victim in the form of verbal or physical

attacks, or they may indirectly target a victim through gossiping and exclusion from the peer

group. ( Aluedse, 3) When teacher are more involved in what is going on with their students

there are able to catch bulling on time.

Teacher are well aware of how every student in their class room behaves. Teacher should

be able to detect a problem as soon as it is arising. Students and teacher spend about 8 hours of

their days together. A lot can happen in a class room especially in a class room of young children.

Any situation that occur in a class room teachers are to report the event. But if there is something

going on and the teacher is not aware student should feel comfortable coming up to the teacher to

get help. Teacher from the very beginning should inform student on how to get help in every

situation. Including situations that happen at home where its a little harder for a young child to
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get help. Letting students know that there is help can make a difference on how they are able to

handle the situation, but of course they are never alone.

Students have a lot of access to the internet now a day. Students usually are on

social media where there is a plethora of sites and bring out your personal life to

public. This gives bullies an easier access to leave inappropriate comments on other

peoples posts, where millions of people can see it. It is very easy to see cyberbullying

everyday basis on social media. 38% of girls and 26% of boys ages 15-17 experience

cyberbullying. Images of victims of cyberbullying can be easily posted on social

media, cell phones making it even easier nowadays to spread to a large viewing

audience. Cyberbullying has a long-term effect on a child that could lead them into

making bad decisions. Having the power of technology has made it easier for children all ages

to experience this situation. Cyberbullying is the easiest way of abuse because it is done online

where youre not looking at the person face to face. Through cyberbullying the person has a

different reaction. It is easier for a bully to send a message or write a social media post then, to

confront the person. Usually after the person that is doing the cyberbullying will be hiding or

avoid the person they bullied.

It is hard to control cyberbullying because it is done anonymously and the internet

making it hard trace back. cyberbullying is often connected to gossip and rumors and the

outcomes of cyberbullying participation vary widely. (Pelfrey, 1) In the electronically advanced

world we live in, it is hard to keep track on all social media sites the child is searching.

Nowadays many websites have parental control or parental alerts that will notify what social

media sites your child has been searching. Coming forward about being bullied and having
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teachers and counselors more aware of a child being bullied can prevent many harmful

situations.

In schools, there are laws and policies for when a child is being abused. Teachers

throughout the year learn who their students are and how they act. When a students start to

change the way, they act in the classroom the teacher can already assumes something is wrong.

Usually, situations like this are parents that are being abusive to their children. If a teacher starts

to see bruises frequently in a student and a change in behavior they are to report it to the school.

Schools have reported numerous cases of child abuse. School nurse are to provide full safety

attention to all the signs and symptoms of child abuse. Although the majority of child abuse

deaths occur in children younger than four years old, 66.2% of the total abuse cases occur in

children and adolescents who attend school. (Hines,1) Child abuse is not only physical it is

mental, educational, nutritional, or a combination of all. Physical abuse is the most obvious

because marks are shown but can also be difficult to see if covered. Every type of abuse has their

own consequences. For example, sexual abuse can affect a child physically and emotionally.

School nurse sometimes choose not to report cases of child abuse because they think it would be

worse on the child. Every state has a different way of dealing cases of all types of child abuse.

Resent cases have been report of children that are being homeschooled experiencing

abuse from either their parents. When it comes to homeschooling, it is more lenient because

parents are the teacher and they are the one to establish the rules. There arent many regulations

within homeschooling which makes it easier for a child to be abused by their parent. Nobody's

watching, no one is going to report it. If a situation where a child is being abused, teachers are to

report it. There are many cases of child abuse and neglect in homeschooling. Having more
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regulations and requirements for homeschoolers can help the child have a better experience.

Most PSCs know their legal responsibility to report cases of abuse and neglect; however,

procedural uncertainty and other concerns may cause great anxiety. (Gullett, 1) Having more

regulations and maybe having mandatory visit to check on the progress of the student and the

environment they are learning in is important. Every parent can be a homeschool teacher and

teach their student but the important part is, are they capable of having the responsibility to teach

their child. No one is able to know if that parent is living in a bad environment or they have their

child at home restricting them from being able to do anything. Having authority visit homes of

students that are being homeschooled to make sure that the student is in a safe environment can

help lowers the amount of cases that have been reported, and most important help save the life of

a child in need.

(figure 1)

With the numbers of child abuse cases rising, more awareness on this topic could help

stop major cases. Teachers, parents and students should learn on how to deal with abuse. Even if
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its not their children experiencing these situations. Knowing there is a way to get help when

children first start experiencing abuse, theres a chance it could be stopped before anything harsh

may happen. Many cases of child abuse go unreported. Having a greater education on how to

stop abuse can help bring awareness to those who need it. Teachers should be aware of signs of

abuse. When a student opens up to a teacher and shares personal information on what is

happening at home, and why they have a change in behaviors, teachers must follow the school

policy on abuse and report it. This can save the life of a child. Teachers must remain calm in

these types of situations in order to make the child feel safe. Students frequently will share very

personal information with their classroom teachers. ( Mianard, 1) It is upsetting to see many

cases of child abuse that werent able to get the help they needed.

The effect of this horrific situation on a child can be very dangerous in their development.

These situations bring a longer-term effect on a child. Abuse can affect the way the child acts in

their everyday life. Some children that have been through the experience of abuse, run away

from home, dont show up to school and if they do they are not in the best behavior. This can

lead the child to make bad decisions growing up. Its not just physical abuse, cyberbullying

affects todays youth more than ever. Young children tend to be greatly affected by

cyberbullying. It becomes very hard for a child to talk about the situation because they might feel

embarrassed, or scared that the situation will get worse if they tell someone. Parent and teachers

need to make their children understand that the right thing to do always is to go get help.

Whatever situation a child is going through, they need to know that by getting help they are

saving their life and maybe others that are involved.

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Brandy Vela is an 18-year-old girl who killed herself because of cyberbullying. The bully

was sending Brandy abusive text messages using a smartphone application making it impossible

to trace back. This experience was traumatizing for the whole family. Before Brandy shot herself,

she sent an email stating that she was going to kill herself. As soon has her parents read the email

they rushed back home to try to save their daughter. They found her alive when they arrived

home. Brandy was standing in her room with a gun pointed to her chest. Her sister Jacqueline

begged her not to do it. Her dad was also standing in the room trying to get Brandy to put the gun

down. When her sister left the room, Brandy shoot herself.

If Brandy wouldve know that by telling her parent what was going on, her life might

have been saved. In a situation like this getting someone involved that has the knowledge on how

to respond to these situations can help stop the situation get out of hand. Not just cyberbullying,

but physical abuse, mental abuse, any type of abuse that a child is experiencing, they need to be

informed on how to get help. Victims of child abuse may feel that they are bad and deserve the

abuse. (Cowell, homepage) No child should ever think they deserve the abuse they are getting.

It is not their fault that are going through a bad situation. The life of every child is important, and

should be cherished. Parents and teachers should be the ones inform their student/ children on

the different way they are able to get help. There are many organizations in the community that

help those in need. Susan Conwell is an executive director of kids matter. This is a corporation

that helps kids who have been neglected or abused. Kids matter helps the children heal and get to

a better place in life. They have many programs, such as, foster healing, family connections, kids

matter CASA, and fostering hope. These programs allow children to heal from the trauma they

have experienced and learn from it. They get the emotional support they need. Fostering hope is
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a box that is sent to foster children and teen full of materials they would need for an everyday

life.

Unfortunately, child abuse happens very often. Many cases have been reported on time

and have been able to get a young child out of a bad situation. But some cases do go unreported,

for that reason it is important that young children, parent, teachers, and the community to get the

right education on how to prevent it. Younger children are usually the target of abuse. Schools

should teach students the different ways they can get help with any situation they are

experiencing. Schools have enforced laws and procedures to follow in case a child is abuse.

Teachers or faculty can get into very serious problems if child abuse is happening and not

reported. It is imperative for teacher to know the behavior of a student and are able to notice

when something is going on whether its in the classroom or at home. Physical abuse, sexual

abuse or any type of abuse that happens on campus or somewhere else teachers are required to

report it. There are many different locations are the community where students can go get help if

they need it. Students need to be aware that, there life matters and whatever situation they are

going through someone is always going to be there to help the student get out of the situation.

Even with the effect that it leaves in a child with help, they are mostly likely able to grow up

making the right decision. These children experience a very dangerous experience but overcome

it and live a fantastic life. No child should ever go through this experience especially alone.
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Work cites

Aluedse, Oyaziwo. "Bullying in Schools: A Form of Child Abuse in Schools." Educational

Research Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 1, Sept. 2006, pp. 37-49. EBSCOhost,

db16.linccweb.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=22434163&site=ehost-live.

Conwell, Susan JD. Abuse and Neglect. Kids Matter, Inc., 15 May 2012,

www.kidsmatterinc.org/get-help/for-families/abuse-and-neglect/?

gclid=Cj0KCQiA6enQBRDUARIsAGs1YQgZ-xW6fgJ-

cpZ_9JtPkHFgioiWf2czVML_7QfmJ9DN8QMfZKihUL8aApTPEALw_wcB.

Devine, DANIEL J. Homeschool Debate. World (0888157X), 6 Sept. 2014,

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vid=20&sid=6aa55ef3-90bc-49de-9181-41ea18eecf29%40sessionmgr102.

Gullatt, David. COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS ARE REQUIRED AS SCHOOLS ADDRESS

SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE . Academic Search Complete, 1999,

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eds.b.ebscohost.com.db16.linccweb.org/ehost/detail/detail?

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Pelfrey, William V. Talking Smack and the Telephone Game: Conceptualizing Cyberbullying
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with Middle and High School Youth. Journal of Youth Studies, 1 Apr. 2014,

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Stephens , john. Physical and Sexual Abuse in Schools: a Harsh Reality Facing Your District:

Districts Everywhere Can Learn a Lesson from California. FLVC SFX Services, 1 Aug.

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