Child abuse: Argumentaive Speech.

Child abuse: How many years are enough?

Child abuse has been around for as long as any one can remember. Taking the lives of many helpless children. Parents let day to day life and stress over whelm them to the point of abusive behavior. Is that an acceptable excuse to beat a defensless child just because you had a bad day or stressful week? To mentally and physically damage a child for no reason, other then to meet your own selfish needs? The most commonly over looked question though is, are the parents who abuse, and kill their children as a result of child abuse really being given enough prison and or jail time? I have researched and read many child abuse cases where some parents were given only 25 years for rape, abuse, and death of a child. Some even less time. Finding this type of information has helped open my eyes to see that some "justice" is not really justice at all.

There are four different types of abuse (sexual, physical, neglect, and emotional). Sexual abuse is any sexual contact between an adult and a child or between an older child and a younger child. Physical abuse is often the easiest type to notice. It includes hitting, shaking, kicking, pinching, and burning. It may leave bruises, cuts, or other marks, and cause pain, broken bones, or internal injuries. Neglect happens when a child does not get the shelter, schooling, clothing, medical care, or protection he or she needs. Emotional abuse is saying or doing things that make a child feel unloved, unwanted, unsafe, or worthless. It can range from yelling and threatening to ignoring the child and not giving love and support (Child abuse and neglect causes, symptoms, and treatment).

Many people would disagree with my statement stating that the most commonly over looked aspect in child abuse is the prison sentence. Mainly because there are some people that do get a life semtence. What some people fail to realize though is that many of those people that do get sentenced to life in prison can often get time taken off of their sentence. This can happen because of good behavior while in prison, if they admit to their crime, and other varies reasons.

While looking through and reading many of the child abuse cases that I done my research on I came across two very disturbing and heart breaking stories. The stories of 10 year old, Amy Deal, and 5 month old, Brianna Lopez.

10 year old Amy Deal, was born on July 24, 2000 she later died on July 12, 2011. The day of Amys death police officers were called to the home were they found Amy dead in a plastic storage box, were she had suffocated. Amy had been living with her Aunt, Cynthia Stoltzmann, her grandmother, Judith Deal, and her aunts daughter, Samantha, and son-in-law, John Allen. The family first tried telling police that Amy had been playing hide and go seek and locked herself in the box while everyone had went to sleep the night before. Finding her dead the next morning. The police did not believe the story and said that it did not add up, because when Amy was found she had brusies on her left leg, that they believed had made contacted with the lid of the box while it was being slammed shut. After further questioning both Samantha and John confessed to locking Amy up in the box, their excuse was, she took a popsicle without permission. Amy was only 4 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed only 59 pounds and was forced into a trunk that was only 3 feet, 14 inches and a foot deep. Before being squeezed and locked in the box she was forced to do jumping jacks, back bends, and run around outside in 103 degrees weather for over an hour. Neighbors claimed that Amy was often abused and reported seeing Amy forced to walk back and forth on the sidewalk, barefoot, in extremely hot temperatures. Other times she was forced to eat hot sauce and dog poop as punishment for stealing food. Her grandmother and aunt were charged with kidnapping and suspicion of child abuse. Samantha and John Allen were charged with suspicion of first degree murder.

5 month old baby Brianna Lopez was born on February 14, 2002 five short months later she died on July 19, 2002. Baby Brianna Lopez suffered from many injuries caused by her mother, Stephanie Lopez, her uncle, Steven Lopez, and her father Andrew Walters. She had two different skull fractures, 15 adult size bite marks and bruises from head to toe, two rib fractures on her right side, fatal injuries to her brain, and sever damage to both her private area and her bottom area. The night before Baby Briannas death she had been thrown to the ceiling and hit the floor three different times by her uncle and father. Her father and uncle also raped her that same night and other numerous times before. Her mother caused the many bite marks on different occasions and also pinched baby Brianna when she became frustrated with her, when the father would become frustrated with her he would throw her. Examiners say that from the many injuries and bruises baby Brianna had when she passed it was easy to tell that this type of abuse had been going on more then likely her entire life. In 2002 the mother, Stephanie Lopez, was only sentenced to 27 years in prison, the father, Andrew Walters, was sentenced to 63 years in prison, and the uncle, Steven Lopez, was sentenced to 57 years in prison. Then in 2007 after a court hearing claiming that because all three were trialed together they were not allowed to defend themselves as a result some of the charges against all three were reinstated also lowering their prison sentences. Lowering the fathers prison time all the way down to 48 years, the uncles all the way down to 42 years, and the mothers all the way down to 13 years.

In conclusion, there are many stories similar to Amy Deal's and baby Brianna Lopez that are never brought to justice like they should be. If these stories at all angered you, or made you feel any remorse then you also agree, that sentencing someone to prison on any type of child abuse should never be over looked and should be taken very seriously and into consideration. What if it was your child?

　

　

　

　

　

My Documentary

Article 3: Child Abuse and Neglect Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

In this article, "Child Abuse and Neglect Causes, Symptoms and Treatment", author Healthwise Staff tells about what child abuse and neglect are, what the types of child abuse and neglect are, what you should do if you know about a child being abused or neglected, how you can prevent child abuse and neglect, and what you should do if your scared someone might harm your child. The author states that a child being abused or neglected often think it is their fault because they dont know any better. Both child abuse and neglect are is any acts that harm a child. Some types of child abuse are physical abuse, which is were the parent may kick, spit on, throw them, cut, punch break their bones, and physically harm their child in any way. Emotional abuse, is when parents make their children feel unsafe by threatening them, calling them names, or making them feel unloved. Sexual abuse is any type of sexual contact between a child and an adult. Another type of child abuse is neglect which is were a child does not get the clothing, schooling, shelter, medical care and so on that they need. If you think you know a child that is being abused you need to call the local police and report it. But if you are an abused child yourself you need to tell someone you can trust will get something done about it as soon as possible. If you are scared that someone may hurt your child, you need to call 911 and get youself and your child to a safe place as soon as possible. When it comes to helping get rid of or preventing child abuse you first need to learn the signs and symptoms and not being scared to step in when its needed. The author wrote this text to help inform and educate the readers of types of abuse and what types of signs and warning to look for if your scared you might know a victim of child abuse. The readers should care because if they think a child is being abused its important for them to know the warning signs and what to do to step in and make a difference.

Staff, Healthwise."Child Abuse and Neglect Causes, Symptoms and Treatment."everydayhealth.com. 10 Dec 2010. 14 Oct 2012.<http://www.everydayhealth.com/health-center/child-abuse-and-neglect.aspx>.

A link to some reported stories of child abuse.

http://www.imperfectparent.com/topics/2007/11/21/one-of-the-most-horrendous-child-abuse-stories-ever/

Article 2: What causes "parents" to abuse their children?

In this article, "What causes parents to abuse their children", author Mary Bauer talks about some of the reasons for parents abusing their children. Such as the parents childhood, unrealistic expectations, lack of support, alcohol and drug abuse, and emotional disorders. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that state and local authorities investigated 3.7 million cases of suspected child abuse in 2008. Parents who grew up as abused children are more then likely to also abuse their children because of the family model they had while growing up. If anyone you know suffered from child abuse as a child and is now doing the same to their children recommend parenting classes and therapy. It can help teach them new ways to  deal  with the stressful aspects of raising children. Parents with unrealistic expectations are often surprised at exactly how much attention and care their child actually may need. This is more often found true for teen parents. Oregon State University Extension Service points out that parents also may become abusive if they have a child who is handicapped or difficult to handle because he or she then requires even more time and attention than what they expected. Caregiver support groups, therapy and parenting classes would be helpful to these type of parents. Parents with lack of support from family, and friends may be more likely to abuse their children often because they get stressed or overwhelmed with the day to day expectations and needs of their children. For these specific types of parents they might want to consider or look into hotlines which are usually available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These types of hotlines may be helpful for parents who just need someone to talk to. Something else that also may be very helpful to these types of parents is emergency shelters. Emergency shelters offer the parents the option to drop off their children for a while, when they feel they can't cope with them. Parents who do or deal with alcohol or drug abuse are three times more likely to abuse their children and four times more likely to neglect them. Parents who have emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder or other mental illnesses are less able to cope with the stresses of parenting and may be more likely to abuse their children. The author states that parents with these types of disorders have trouble caring for themselves and are even less able to take care of others. The authors purpose of writing this text is to educate others of reasons as to why parents abuse their children. Weather it be the parents fault or something the parent can not control. Mary Bauer's work is important because she extends the facts by telling about what type of help the parents could get for specific types or reasons for them abusing their child. Readers should care because if they know someone who acts out any of the characteristics above they should know how to react in such a situation.

Bauer, Mary. "What Causes Parents to Abuse Their Child."livestrong.com. 7 June 2010. 14 Oct 2012. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/142315-what-causes-parents-abuse-their-child/>.

Article 1: Recognizing and Preventing child abuse

    In this article, "Recognizing and Preventing child abuse",  Melinda Smith and Jeanne Sega, talk about the myths of child abuse, how to understand child abuse and neglect, the effects of child abuse and neglect on children, types of child abuse, the warning signs and so much more. Facts have stated that abused children are more likely to repeat the cycle as adults, unknowingly repeating what they experienced as children. The author states that the results of being an abused child can cause lack of trust and relationship difficulties, trouble regulating emotions, and feeling "worthless" and "damaged". They then went into further detail explaining that growing up with trust and relationship difficulties cause the children to grow up thinking to themselves, if I can't trust my parents, then who can I trust. The problem with them not being able to regulate their emotions is caused from having to hold everything inside for so long, which could also cause them to lean towards drugs or alcohol when they get older, because it gives them that "numbing" feeling. As an abused child being told that you are "worthless", "stupid", and that you "can't" and "won't" ever amount to something in your life takes its tole on you, and once you've heard it so many times it makes it hard for you not to believe .. "Could this be true?" This causes many abused children to have very low self-esteem and not have the mind set to strive to do good in school or get a good job because they feel they "can't do it" or "don't deserve it." Some of the most common ways to tell if a child is being abused physically is frequent bruises, welts, and cuts. They are always waiting for something bad to happen. Flinch to sudden movement, or seems scared to go home. They will also wear odd clothing such as a long sleve shirt on a hot day. Some signs of a child being sexually abused is trouble walking or sitting, runs away from home, takes interest in sexual acts at an inappropriate age, and will make strong efforts to avoid or stay away from a specific person. Signs of an neglected child are filthy clothes, almost always late or missing from school, frequently left alone, and bad hygiene such as unbathed, matted unwashed hair, and so on. Emotionally abused children are often scared of being wrong, shows extremes in behavior, and won't seem as attached to their parent or gardian. The authors purpose for writing this text is to inform those who don't know about child abuse, or to let those who do know about child abuse, just how serious it really is. Melinda Smith and Jeanne Sega's work is important because it extends the knowledge of child abuse and its warning signs.

Smith, Melinda. Sega, Jeanne."Recognizing and Preventing child abuse."Helpguide.org. July 2012. 14 Oct 2012.<http://helpguide.org/mental/child_abuse_physical_emotional_sexual_neglect.htm>.

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Wordle

Which one?

Which parent, the father or the mother, is more likely to commit child abuse?

How?

How do you prevent the occurrence of child abuse?

What if?

What if the child does not come forward, then what could happen to the child?

Should?

Should the parent be allowed to visit the child after conviction?

Why?

Why do parents choose to abuse their children?

Loss Of Innocence

More than five children die every day as a result of child abuse. There are many types of child abuse, neglect being the main one, physical abuse being second, and sexual abuse being third. From 2001-2008 24,259,000 cases of child abuse were reported in the U.S. Child abuse can start as early as 4 months old and go on until teen years. I myself have never been abused in any way, but I have dealt with abused children. October first of 2011 my grandmother took in three severely abused children. We had known them before we took them in because they were children of a friend of ours and we knew they would get popped or get spankings. But what we didn't know was how badly these children were actually being treated. The youngest was four, the middle child was eight, and the oldest was eleven. When they moved in with us we had to take them to counseling twice a month, and after the first and second visit, I was in complete shock. Results had came back that the two youngest (both girls) had been sexually abused then about a week later when the oldest (a boy) went to his appointment we found out he had also been sexually abused. We then later after all three of the children being questioned found out that the oldest (the boy) had been sexually abused by his step father which was his sisters real father, and that the girls had been sexually abused by their brother, because of it being done to him, he thought it was okay to do to others. The girls had also been sexually abused by other children around the neighborhood due to lack of parental supervision. After finding out their brother was the one who had done that to them he was taken out of our home and placed in another foster home a good bit away. Then later on at the end of April of 2012 the girls were also taken out due to my grandmothers health. The experience has taught me a lot, and I think of them everyday wondering how they are, if their happy, and if their being treated right or not. I don't understand why "parents" treat they children the way they do, but that's what I'm going to find out!