Child Abuse: Statistics, Stories, and My Views

As some of you may know, I recently published an article on a terrible case of child abuse that took place in my area. Once again, the unthinkable has occurred, but unlike the enduring little girl in my original article, this Charleston, WV toddler died at the hands of her abuser, her mother's boyfriend.

As her mother was working, the boyfriend, Larry Allen Hayes, Jr., was watching this child when he says it fell ill for some unknown reason. The mother returned to find that her child wasn't breathing, but Hayes neglected to seek medical assistance. The 18 month old died later in the hospital. Hayes initially said that he didn't know of anything that might have caused the bruising on the child (described by the Charleston Gazette as sub-dermal hematomas caused by multiple blows to the head.) Hayes later changed his story, saying that he fell down the stairs and landed on the girl. He is currently being held on $500,000 cash only bond.

I do not know if child abuse is becoming more prevalent in our society, or if it's just being reported more, but I have heard so many sad stories about children, both in this state and around the country, that my heart is breaking. I am in an Elementary Education class now and we're discussing classroom management and how to connect with parents to integrate them into the education process, but every day since we've started this unit, I've heard the same thing: "Be ready." By being ready, our instructor says, she is telling us to be prepared for the evil we will see. Most parents are kind to their children, but some are not. Child abuse was never an issue in my home, so I guess I hadn't given it much thought, but it seems that it is indeed a huge issue, especially when it comes to the school system.

As teachers, our professor tells us, we must be prepared for the heartbreaking scenes we're sure to see. She's recounted for us, sometimes on the verge of tears, about a father who surgically maimed his own son, about children with bruises and little fifth grade girls who are molested by their mothers' live-in friends. And as teachers, we are legally liable to record and report any of this we see. We must listen to them without judgment, without showing any fear or hatred towards their abusers, and we tell them gently to go on and share anything they are willing to speak. We can't stop them if the details are too much for us to hear.

This isn't something you think about when you sign up to be a teacher. You think about how fun college is going to be, how hard your midterm papers are, how many credits until graduation, which schools you would like to work at, but never who's busted lip I need to record or why this student flinches when I call his name.

I cannot recall a time in my life when I've felt more pitiful to be a human being. I cannot imagine what is going through a mother's mind as she tries to resuscitate her battered, limp baby, and I cannot imagine what is crossing a man's mind when he beats that child to the brink of death.

Here are some shocking statistics from childwelfare.gov (latest posted data is dated 2007):

Around 1,700 children were killed by being abused or neglected in 2007.
Children ages three and under suffered from more abuse or neglect related fatalities than any other age group (ages 0-17).
Children under one year of age accounted for around 42 percent of these fatalities.
Over sixty percent of child abuse and neglect fatalities were perpetrated by one or both parents.

Please bear in mind, those are only reported statistics of neglect and abuse that resulted in the child's death.
The following are statistics concerning abuse and neglect in general from the website Childhelp.org (also for the year 2007.)

Ninety percent of sexually abused children knew the perpetrator beforehand.
Almost 70 percent of children who were sexually abused suffered it at the hand of a relative.
Neglect (failure to provide essentials such as shelter, food, etc.) accounted for over half of recorded child abuse.
Over 7 percent of abused children were sexually mistreated, 4 percent were psychologically harmed, and 10 percent were physically abused.

If you're a parent, protect your child. If you're a bystander, say something. An infant doesn't have a voice to say, "Please stop hurting me," but you do. You don't have to be a former victim, a parent, or a CPS worker to advocate against child abuse. Please do your part and help prevent more cases like these from ever happening.

Sources:
Charleston Gazette Article
ChildHelp
ChildWelfare