Child Abuse, when a child is abused or neglected by a family member or caregiver for no apparent reason. There have been many programs, and clubs to try and prevent Child Abuse from happening, but we all know that only adults that are parents can stop what they do to their kids, if they do abuse them. 

Types Of Abuse: The four types of abuse are as followed;

• Physical: Torture, Domestic violence
• Sexual: Incest, Rape, Sexual Harassment
• Emotional: Bullying, Name-Calling
• Neglect: Ignorance by guardian/parent/caregiver

• Children under the age of 4 account for 75% of all child abuse deaths
• An average of 20 children in Colorado die from suspected abuse or neglect every year
• In 2005 approximately 30,000 children were reported abused or neglected and referred for investigation in Colorado
• The majority of children in residential care heave been victims of significant physical or sexual abuse
• Boys and girls are equally likely to be abused or neglected
• Approximately 80% of child abuse is perpetrated by a parent, guardian, or caregiver
• Neglect occurs more frequently than abuse and can be equally damaging and deadly. 30% of all child fatalities are due to neglect
• 11,927 children spent some portion of 2005 in foster care
• Approximately 1,500 abused and neglected children receive intensive, rehabilitive mental health services in residential programs
• Approximately three children died each day in the United States from abuse or neglect in 1997
• One-half of all Americans believe child abuse and neglect is the most important public health issue facing this country, compared to other public health issues like drug and alcohol abuse, heart disease, cancer, and HIV/AIDS
• Over 3 million (3,195,000) children were reported for child abuse and neglect to child protective service (CPS) agencies in the United States in 1997
• It is estimated hundreds of thousands of children are physically abused each year by a parent or close relative. Thousands die.

(Thanks to www.childabuse.org, www.childabuse.com, www.dayofthechild.org, and www.aacap.org for these facts and statistics)

Descriptions: Physical Abuse:
Physical abuse is when a parent/caregiver/guardian tortures, hits, or causes violence to the child. It causes physical injury on the child, leaving bruises, bite marks, or even burn marks. Statistics on physical abuse to children is alarming. An estimated hundreds of thousands of children are physically abused each year by a parent/caregiver/guardian, and thousands die from it. Those children who survive it, cannot shake off the trauma that they lived through, long after the bruises, and marks heal. The experience that they went through will never go away.
Punching, beating, shaking violently, kicking, burning, choking, or otherwise are all physical abuse.

Signs Of Physical Abuse:
Keep your eyes out for signs of physical abuse on a child are as followed; 

Behavioral Signs:

• A poor self image
• Inability to trust, or love others
• Anger or rage
• Self-injury
• School problems or failures
• Feelings of sadness, or depression
• Flashbacks, or nightmares
• Suicidal thoughts
• Fears of parent or caregiver
• Unusual shyness, wariness or physical contact
• Behavior, such as substance abuse, truancy, running away, or fear of going home
• Lies usually still while studying surroundings (infants)
• Unbelievable explanations for injuries.

• Unexplained bruises or welts on face, throat upper arms, buttocks, thighs or lower back. Bruises display unusual patterns or shapes which suggest the use of household items (belt, electric cord, ect.)
• Unexplained burns, on palms, soles of feet, abdomen, or buttocks. Burns should be "doughnut shaped" on buttocks or genital area
• Rope burns
• Infected burns, indicating delay in treatment, burns in the shape of household appliances or utensils

(Thanks to www.focusas.com, and www.childabuse.org for this information)  

Sexual Abuse:Sexual abuse is when someone sexually abuses a child for no particular reason or pleasure. 
Sexual abuse in a child can be caused by a parent, step-parent, sibling, or other relative, and can even happen outside the child's home (for example, a friend, neighbor, or a complete stranger). Sexual abuse is the most under-reported form of child abuse, because of the secrecy or "conspiracy of silence". Most children who are sexually abused never want to talk about what had happened to them, because of how frightening it is to remember.
Sexual abuse includes, rape, incest, intercourse, sodomy, commercial exploitation, through prostitution or pornographic images. 
Sexual abuse is the worst in the world. 

Signs of Sexual Abuse:
Watch for these signs of sexual abuse in a child 

Behavioral signs: 

• Sleep problems, or nightmares
• The victim's disclosure of sexual abuse
• Regressive behaviors (thumb-sucking, bedwetting, fear of the dark)
• Unusual and age-inappropriate interest in sexual matters 
• Depression, or withdrawal in family activities
• Difficulty in walking or standing
• Avoidance of undressing or wearing extra clothing
• Sudden decline in school performance

• Torn, stained, or bloody underclothes
• Frequent, unexplained sore throats, yeast or urinary infections
• Sexually transmitted diseases (STD's)
• Pregnancy
• Bruises or bleeding from external genital, vaginal, or anal region
• Somatic complaints, including pain and irritations of the genitals

(Thanks to www.focusas.com, and www.childabuse.org for this information)  

Neglect:
Child neglect is when the parent(s) or guardian(s) of a child fail to provide for the proper physical care needs of their child. These include food, clothing, and a adequate shelter. Data taken from the United States Centers for Disease Control has shown that neglect is about three times more common than physical abuse and six times more common than sexual abuse.

 Signs of Neglect:
Watch for these signs of neglect in a child 

Behavioral and Physical signs:

• Malnourishment
• Poor hygiene
• Savage behavior in school

(Thanks to www.wikipedia.org for this information) 

Emotional Abuse:Emotional abuse is where a child is abused mentally by verbal assault; such as being called hurtful names or being told that they’ll amount to nothing. It is very hard to observe considering the fact that there are no definite physical signs of it and the fact that emotional abuse occurs mostly within the privacy of the child’s home or an enclosed institution.  

Signs of Emotional Abuse:
Watch for these signs for Emotional Abuse in a child 

Emotional and Physical signs:

• Very low self-esteem
• Attempting self-harm
• Suicide or thoughts of suicide
• Depression
• Withdrawal in activities
• Severe anxiety
• Aggression
• Emotional instability
• Extreme passiveness
• Inability to trust anyone
• Frequent crying
• Problems in school

(Thanks to www.wikipedia.org for this information) 

This comes to the conclusion of our blog about Child Abuse.The reason we are doing this, is not just to make you read all these facts, and types of abuse, or just to get you sad or depressed. No, our whole reason for this blog is because me and dognapee have made the decision of making a club called Future Preventers of Child Abuse (FPCA), and we would like it if you would join. Please don’t leave a comment saying you want to join, PM either me or dognapee saying that you would like to join. The reason for the no comments is because we could lose the blog, and totally lose your request. Once again, PM either me or dognapee if you want to join.  If you leave a comment saying that you want to join, we will comment back saying "Please PM me"
(Feel free to leave a comment on how you feel about the facts that we've gathered up though.)Thank you.