Child abuse and maltreatment have flooded our society for a while. It's sad but things like this happen every day. People who abuse their children usually come from a past where they themselves were abused, which is heartbreaking because they keep repeating the cycle. Child abuse is a huge problem in many countries, including the United States. It's not just a problem because child abuse is wrong, but also because of the amount of abuse that occurs in the world. Each year, 2.9 million cases of child abuse are reported in the United States. This is a large number, but I don't think these are all the numbers because there are probably another million cases that go unreported. Too many children have their childhoods taken away from them because they are afraid of the people who should be there to love, support and nurture them during these crucial years of their lives. Child abuse can be a sensitive topic for some people, but the only way to reduce reports of child abuse is to create more public awareness about it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay I chose to write my article on child abuse because it pains me every time I see children being abused. I hate it because kids don't know much and can easily be exploited. I hate when children are beaten because they are defenseless and cannot defend themselves. Children should enjoy and love life instead of worrying about when their parents or guardians will neglect or abuse them. Child abuse can be divided into four categories: physical, emotional, neglectful and sexual abuse. These categories are all bad, even if you think some are worse than others. Physical child abuse is defined as “physical injury inflicted on a child with cruel and/or harmful intent.” This can be anything from punching, kicking, burning, shaking, throwing objects, etc. Sometimes there is a gray line between abusing your child and disciplining him. Some parents think about disciplining their children, but they get to the point where it turns into abuse. I think what should differentiate abuse and discipline is the strength of the incident. I feel like you can discipline your child, but it should be with an open hand because if you spank your child with an open hand it shouldn't be enough to hurt him. When a child gets a bruise it becomes a problem because for someone to get a bruise there would have to be a lot of pressure to cause it. This is why it is easy to spot physical abuse because not always but many times if there is a child with bruises it can be a sign of abuse. This can come from a guard. Ian slapping, punching, or kicking the child. Children can be physically abused because of something they have done or something that has happened to the abuser. Children are usually attacked when they do something bad and the parents or caregivers become so angry that they feel the need to hurt the child in order to understand what they have done. This can lead to someone physically hurting their child intentionally or accidentally. Another reason someone might physically attack their child is if something happens to themselves. There are cases when parents take out their aggression on their children and use the punching bag as a “punching bag”. This drives me crazy because in these cases it's not the child's fault at all but they have to experience the brute force of the parent's or caregiver's aggression. The next type of abuse I want to talk about is emotional child abuse since it probably is.