Punishing Children

Punishing Children

Jessica Beagley is a mother-of-six from Anchorage, Alaska. After her seven year old son returned home from school where he had misbehaved, she decides to punish her child by pouring hot sauce down his mouth, and forcing him to stand in a cold shower for his punishment. The punishments swarmed around the world as it was filmed, and parents were in an outrage. Most people believe that the home is the safest place to be. A place one can go to escape violence, discrimination, hate and all the injustices of the world. One may think that home is a place where children are protected from such injustices. However, for millions of innocent children, it can sometimes be a place of fear, hurt, neglect, and terror. Child abuse and neglect are crimes that are sometimes difficult to vindicate. Regardless of age, status of incomes, race, faith, or ethnic backgrounds, children from all parts of the world suffer from the various different forms of abuse. It is obvious that these crimes do not discriminate against a child due to their age, sex, race, religion, or socioeconomic background. Yes, any child can falling victim to this sometimes silent crime. Therefore, these unfortunate types of child abuse must be discussed and will be addressed in the following paragraphs.

Some parents actually believe that they are helping their child by performing physical discipline to them they are helping them. They believe their child will not act out or become a part of the system, therefore not a statistic, if they punish their child. However, statistics suggest that child abuse is not a rare manifestation. According to case studies done in the year 2000, over 155,000 children were physically abused (West's Encyclopedia of American Law, 2000). Physical abuse is characterized by physical injury, usually inflicted as a result of a beating or inappropriately harsh discipline. Sexual abuse is characterized as physical abuse as well. Sexual abuse of a child includes molestation, incest, rape, prostitution, or use of a child for pornographic purposes. Though the thought of sexual child abuse just sounds disgusting, there are actually, in fact sick perverts who perform these acts. These acts are usually premeditated, and in most cases happens within the family. "...sexual abuse is almost always shrouded in secrecy and feelings of helplessness in the victim; fear and ambivalent feelings (especially toward a perpetrator who is a family member) cause victims to disclose abuse in delayed and unconvincing ways and often to recant their disclosure later; and it is common for sexually abused children to show little emotion about the abuse and to delay for long periods of time before disclosing the abuse." (Encyclopedia of Human Development, 237).

Studies show that over 515,000 children were neglected (West's Encyclopedia of American Law, 2000). This act can effect a childs mind, causing the child to feel on loved and abandoned by the world. This puts the child in a mind state that if their own parents do not love them, then who will? "...young children are left at home without adequate