Rockridge High School

Taylor Ridge, Illinois

Teacher: Barbara Downey

 

 

Child Abuse
By Amy Faith

Grade 12

 

Child abuse is a major problem in today’s society.  Mental and physical abuse on children can complicate their lives as they grow and begin to cultivate their own relationships.   Most of the blame for minor problems is directed to teens, but let’s go back to where the problems actually start to occur.

There is a lot of child abuse going on.  It seems to be an everyday occurrence you see in the newspapers.  Sometimes they are even fatal. Angelica Faith, an infant, was killed from exposure to the cold, by her mother.  Her mother was a teenager, who had hidden her pregnancy, and then had her baby in her bedroom.  She then wrapped Angelica in a towel and placed her on the doorstep of her next door neighbor.  The incident was not brought to anyone’s attention until many years later.  An eighteen year old male was accused of sexually abusing a five year old girl.  He saw the girl playing in the park and asked her to go home with him.  She went with him and later told her parents.  The eighteen year old admitted to the police about the sexual abuse incident.  Shirley Combest was a mother of three.  She had her eight year old daughter and her six year old son in her car as she purposely plunged into the fifty-nine degree water of Lake Michigan.  The car was not towed out until an hour later.  All were pronounced dead.  Her teenage son survives and still lives with his father.  Can you imagine the emotional stress that teenager will suffer for the rest of his life?  These examples show that children suffer for years afterward in result to their abuse.

Many children like these who suffer through physical and emotional abuse, have problems as they grow up.  They never really learn to develop their own relationships.  As they begin to find life long partners, they do not learn how to cultivate their relationships.  Children are taught to resort to abuse or violence to solve their problems.  So therefore, they might abuse their future spouse and/or children.  Abuse is never ending and will never disappear if children are not taught the right way.

This abuse cycle is what we need to stop.  If we do not take any action to prevent future abuse, then how do we expect our future generations to act? Maybe we need to make help for abuse easier to acquire.  If we held classes in our communities to better educate parents on how to have patience with their children, maybe that could help, one community at a time.  Schools could have certain seminars and classes on what to do if students are or know someone who is being abused.  Counseling should also be available to children who need it.  In addition, Mentoring is a very good idea for some kids to learn about different things from other people they look up to, some things that they do not learn at home.  One example is the Big Brother Big Sister Foundation, which allows children to receive moral support and to have someone to look up to.  Many children are shy about speaking about such a touchy subject.  We need to make sure there are responsible adults to listen and not criticize.  And most importantly, we need to become better role models for our children.  The key is to listen to our children and be there for them, when they are ready to talk.

Children and teens are getting all the wrath about problems involving our society.  Maybe it is time look deeper and understand the cause of that blame.  We need to look at parents and other people that are influencing children's decisions.  Helping parents achieve success with their children is the answer.
   
Essay Questions

1)  U.S.- We invest time and effort into marriages and hopeful happiness.  We choose our own partners and buy marriage licenses and insurance.In Manus they invest dog’s teeth and shell money into marriages.  They have arranged marriages for their children.

2) 

a.) 25 years. 1 marriage- Always communicating, open minded, Faith inGod. 

b.) 18 years.  1 marriage- Give and take mostly by the women. 

c.)  11 years. 1 marriage- Open communication, honesty, having fun, important to be best friends. 

d.)  9 years. 1 marriage- laughter and communication. 

e.)  9 years.  1 marriage-communication, commitment, laughter, being in love, and faith in God. 

f.)  3 years. 2nd marriage- Communication and commitment.

3)  People need to get their acts together and set their priorities straight in order to make their lives happier.  We need to provide economic opportunities for children no matter what the race.  We need to treat everyone fairly and not the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

4)  Our community needs to have more after school activities for young children and teenagers.  Many kids are home alone for a couple of hours until their parents come home from work.  This spare time can be filled with useful learning experiences and discouraging peer pressure that tempts kids to smoke, drink, and do drugs.

5)  If people don’t have everything, they tend to drop out of society. Everyone is becoming more and more dependent on material things.

6)  The lawyers create a form of public responsibility and accountability that would not happen in an untrammeled democracy.  The lawyers can help the minorities who are treated unfairly.

7)  I prefer punitive damages because regulations would be a bigger hassle, especially when it’s something as minor as coffee temperatures.

8)  With the retirement of baby boomers, they start up new businesses with lots of experience.  They create jobs for the other younger adults.  They will also hire other retirees to work for them, establishing gray businesses made up of older workers.  The years of experience and extensive business contracts will make older workers more competitive.

9)  It’s a new concept  and not likely to catch on very quickly.  It’s the first time the government has tried to encourage equity investment in poor areas.  Also there is a very little chance that there will be help for the CDFI (Community Development Financial Institutions).

10)  Truett Cathy and Tom Lewis both have a desire to help youth in their
area.  Mostly they want to help teenagers and help them get to college and achieve their goals.  They both have also built homes and activity centers for youth to participate in safe activities.