By Kelanie Cuadrado, Staff Writer
Child abuse can have many long term effects on a child. These effects range in consequence from minor physical injuries, low self-esteem, attention disorders, and poor peer relations to severe brain damage, violent behavior, and death. The effects may occur in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood, and may affect various aspects of an individual’s development.
One of the effects of child abuse is low self-esteem. The child may have convinced themselves that the reason they were abused is because they were not good enough to be loved and cared for. Having low self-esteem can make the child grow up thinking that they cannot achieve anything good in life. They may not very social and often give up on things easily. They may be more shy then other kids and will miss out on things because they are too afraid. Or they may feel like they are different from others and lash out.
Another effect is inability to trust others. Children who were abused have a difficult time trusting their friends or family. The child that is abused cannot trust their abusers promises that it won’t happen again. They soon learn that whenever mom or dad get angry, they will be hurt, even if they haven’t done anything wrong. In the eyes of the abusive parent, whatever the child does will be wrong and the child will be abused. Even though the child’s parent tells them that they are sorry for hurting them, the child cannot trust their abusers words and promises. Sometimes, the parent will take the child out to buy a toy to make up for it. The child will learn that even though they have been given a new toy, this doesn’t mean that they won’t get hurt again. At some point, the child will begin to lose trust in not only their abuser, but in everyone they come into contact with. In the back of their mind will always be the question of whether others will hurt them also. Trust becomes a major factor in the life of the abused child. As they grow up, they lose trust in everyone, especially authority figures. They constantly wonder if they can trust their teachers, their counselors, and even family. Trust is very hard to come by at this point. The child may literally feel as though they are completely alone in their life. They may feel like there is no one that they can turn to for help. They may feel as though they cannot trust anyone to open up to and talk about what they are experiencing. They may wonder if everyone will hurt them for what they say or do. They constantly fear that they will be the cause of more problems.
When a child is abused, since they are so little and do not fully understand why bad things happen; they are affected in some way. All these effects can carry on with them into their adult life. Making it harder to develop a relationship or achieve their goals and dreams. Being a victim of child abuse is something that a child should never have to experience in their life. They should not have to wonder why they were treated different from other children. If you see child abuse occurring, do the right thing and report it. Don’t assume that someone will report it because many don’t. If you are worried about being wrong, just think isn’t it better for the child to be safe. Better late than never. You could save a child from being hurt in the long run.
