Pedagogy

When one hears the words child abuse, the picture that comes to mind is a child with a bleeding cut on the face, a broken hand or leg and a body generally full of scars. While all these are signs of child abuse, there are many other forms of child abuse which leave scars in the lives of the child just as a physical bruise. These are emotional scars caused by emotional child abuse. Many of us visualize child abuse a phenomenon in far away continents of Africa, Asia and Timbuktu, but the truth is that it could be happening right within your backyard. A child abuser is not a person with any physical characteristics that make him or her recognizable.

This is one factor that makes it hard to identify many of the cases that happen around us. It is a fact that most cases of child abuse are perpetrated by close family members (Ross, 1996). This makes it difficult for law enforcing agencies to apprehend. A child who is neglected is facing child abuse. Even though some forms of child abuse are mild and may not even be noticed, the truth is that any form of abuse is wrong and the community needs to do whatever is within its capability to stop the vice.  But what can the community do about child abuse if in the first place the different forms of child abuse are not understood What can be done if the members of the community do not know what to do if they come across an abused child
If abused children are identified and given treatment early enough, they all have a chance to recover. The speed and extent of the recovery depends on the severity of the abuse or the depth of the abusive scars, the length of the duration for which the abuse was perpetrated and many other factors. Some children are known to have fully recovered from the effects of child abuse. The greatest danger in not identifying and helping an abused child is that the victim may later on in life become a child abuser thereby perpetuating the cycle. One common thing with all forms of child abuse is that they all leave a permanent scar in the childs life- physical, emotional or both.

In every case of child abuse, there is a neighbor, a teacher, a friend or a community worker who notices it but fails to do something about it. There are many organizations in the country which help abused children. A growing body of clinical practice and exploration divulges that domestic violence and child abuse occur in then same families and it is allied with social and peril economic factors. Data has revealed that children brought up in violent families are abused so much psychologically, more so when they watch the parents hurling insults at each other and fighting (Ross, 1996). This is likely to indoctrinate a sense of not appreciating the opposite sex because they are likely to take sides. In some cases the parents after the violence may take vengeance in the children and in that case there is no parental love which is a requirement for psychological growth. Also the children may be hurt physically when the parents are fighting.

Some domestic violence has frequently resulted in divorce and separation and in this case one of the parents is forced to remain with the siblings. Siblings of this category lack parental love from one of the spouses who is absent and the spouse in charge of them may abuse them because of economic constraints. To combat this problem, the family should not try to solve disputes in a manner that the children are likely to know. Let all the fighting and quarrelling take place in the bedroom after children have slept and when it goes to an extent of separation, let the society help the parent who is bringing up the child through psychological support and material possessions.

Another factor that increases the risk of child abuse is emotional immaturity of the parents which is correlated to the actual age of the parents. Poor coping sills are normally associated with young parents, who have poor self esteem and other psychological problems experienced by one or both parents. To add to this is the problem of children of single parents and especially those from unwanted pregnancies as a result of rape. The society should see to it that it inculcates values to parents and how they will treat their children. The responsibility of bringing up children should not be left to the parents alone, because they are also minors. In the case of unwanted pregnancies the child should be seen as a fortunate entity and not as a bad omen. The society should advice the mother on how to raise the child and offer support so that the child meets its basic requirements. All forms of ridicule to the society should be avoided because the general inherent stress of parenting which when combined with the pressure of any one or a combination of eth factors previously mentioned may exacerbate any difficult situation.

Decision making in any particular family and society is important for economic success. Children are often an ignored entity in the decision making process and their desires and wishes are never met because they are never given an opportunity to air their view on important society undertakings (McCurdy,  Daro, 1994). Therefore in forums of decision mak8ng, children should be priotised and the views that they air should be addressed or rate they are advised on some pertinent issues.

Sex abuse of children is everywhere in Canada at the moment. Leave alone the case o child molesters who nay abuse them sexually but pornographic literature is everywhere from the media to the role models in society. There are no strict rules on the access of pornographic material to underage children. There is also proliferation in the market of getting young girls shooting pornographic literature in return for money benefits. The society should be the first one to combat this and also to declare war on those found doing the same because this people live with us and we know them.

Exposing of underage children to drugs is also a rampant form of abuse. Retailers sale abusive drugs to children provided that they have money not knowing that they are breeding a society of criminals. Therefore the society of Canada should wake up in one voice and style up as regards to this habit.

If children are seen as a property of their parents more so the father, then it is not surprising that the owners are given a fairly free hand on how they handle them. Even if a parent tortures a child in the name of punishing the child, no one has something to comment on the same matter. The society should have a collective responsibility of displining children as their own and where a child is abused physically or sexually, the society should rise up and question. Children should be raised like in the days of our forefathers where a child respects everyone despite of family affiliations and this only starts by the society being exemplary role models.

Social strategies for preventing child abuse that have been proposed by various scholars but they are unproven include increasing the value society places on children, increasing economic self sufficiency of families, enhancing communities and their resources, discouraging excessive use of corporal punishment and other forms of violence, making healthcare more affordable and accessible, expanding and improving on the coordination of social services, increasing the availability of childcare, preventing the births of unwanted children through sex education, family planning, abortion, and adoption (McCurdy,  Daro, 1994).

In conclusion, it is the community needs to sensitize all its members on the different forms of child abuse and the different channels of help available for the abused children. The community as a whole ought to know its responsibilities and duties in eradication of the vice. Creating awareness and putting in place structures to more effectively deal with perpetrators. It is the duty of society to bring forth upright members in society because child abuse is a self perpetuating monster in that it invests itself in the abused child- a victim of child abuse has a very high likelihood of becoming one in his or her later life (Daro, 1998). Therefore inculcating good orals in children and combating their abuse will contribute a great deal in combating this shameful social vice in society.