The youth of America today will be our leaders tomorrow. What if the youth never make it past 13? What would happen if parents took out their anger on their children all the time? Not every child is exposed to violent parents, but others are not as fortunate. Child abuse, a crime that takes place everyday, is adequately addressed when steps are taken to keep the child safe by school employees, law enforcement, and people in the health care field. David Pelzer shares his experiences as a victim of child abuse in his autobiographies "A Child Called It," and "The Lost Boy." Without the interference of his school nurse, it is possible that Mr. Pelzer would not have survived his childhood.
Discussion
Signs of child abuse are actually very easy to see. Some of the many signs of child abuse are; aggressive, disruptive, and sometimes illegal behavior; anger and rage, or feelings of sadness or other symptoms of depression; anxiety or fears, or flashbacks and nightmares; broken bones or internal injuries; burns; changes in a child's behavior or school performance; constant hunger or thirst; cuts and bruises; dirty hair or skin, frequent diaper rash; drug and alcohol abuse; hard-to-believe stories about how accidents occurred; lack of interest in surroundings; lack of supervision; passive or withdrawn behavior; poor self-image; sexual acting out; self-destructive or self-abusive behavior, suicidal thoughts; school problems or failure; he or she seems guarded and startles easily; the child loiters at school or friends' houses; he or she seems reluctant to go home. Some of these signs can occur for other reasons such as divorce, but if you continuously see one or many of these happing it is possible that the child is being abused and help is needed.