Child Abuse

Child Abuse is a serious problem in America. Many children can become severely maimed or injured by physically abusive parents and some very young children are even killed. A blue ribbon signifies child abuse. Child Abuse can be emotional, physical, and/or sexual in nature, and most occurs within one's own family, at a school, or in some other situation with a trusted adult present. The US and the UK rank lowest in keeping their children safe from harm.



Child abuse occurs most commonly in single-parent families, and it comes in 3 forms. Physical, emotional, and sexual. Neglect is found in physical and emotional, and is the most commonly found abuse in the United States.



Abused children can become depressed, anxious, develop personality disorders, experience alienation or withdrawal, severe physical disabilities (depending on severity of physical abuse), criminal or antisocial behavior, delinquency, aggressive behavior, and further abusing their own children or spouses.



Child abuse can occur by the parent or guardian for many reasons. It can happen because the parent was abused as a child, they have some psychotic illness, the family is going through a lot of stress (this can lead to neglect more than anything else) such as divorce or a downward shift in income, and commonly found (and mentioned in Whale Talk as having happened to the main character, T.J.,) drug abuse by a parent.



Most abused children experience a long-term post traumatic stress disorder from their experiences, and while this does not necessarily include flashbacks, it can acclude such things as attatchment disorder, and leads to persistent sadness, helplessness, and a disconnect from others around them. It can also lead to isolation, or a search for a rescuer.

Child abuse (though this is rarely tackled in Whale Talk directly) in America is handled by Child Protective Services. They are an organization that can intervene and support families or go as far as to take a child away from a parent, though that action has been criticised as more harmful than good in some situations.

Child abuse can also lead to something known as emotional dysregulation. It makes an emotional response odd or very heightened from the norm, such as an incredible rage over a broken plate, or incredible joy over something very minor or even bad.

As I said in the introduction, a blue ribbon signifies child abuse prevention. It is a loop, similar to pink for breast cancer, yellow for troop support, or the most commonly known, red, for aids.

So, as you can see, child abuse is a serious problem in America. It can lead to death, serious injury, and so many degrees of psychotic trauma. It can ruin a life.