Child abuse is a major problem in our society and it assuredly contributes to other social problems such as crime. Children are the most vulnerable members of our society because they are absolutely dependent on adults for their well-being. Yet many adults, whether parents, other family members, teachers, neighbors, etc., betray that trust. Child abuse takes many forms: physical, psychological, and spiritual. Another form of child abuse is neglect, which involves failing to care for the child adequately--failing to provide adequate food, shelter, water, medical care, or for other physical needs of the child. Because it is easier to identify, most laws tend to deal with physical child abuse. Typically, when an action by an adult leaves a mark on a child, that is defined as child abuse. When other adults see such marks, they are morally obligated to contact the authorities; teachers and other school officials are mandated by law to call the authorities on child abuse. Another major problem with the whole issue of child abuse is that there is no guarantee that government workers can do a better job of childcare than can a family. The majority of social workers and foster families who deal with children want to do a good job, however, they are often poorly paid and have too many children to keep track of. Also, it is impossible to require social workers and foster care families to have the wisdom to discern the more subtle aspects of what is going on in a family. Finally, there are social workers who are burned out and foster parents who are in the job for the wrong reasons. The result is that there are children who are abused or die in foster care. There are also families that are torn apart because authorities have made a mistake about what is going on. The government is no substitute for caring parents, but it is the best alternative we have. Unfortunately, child abuse can become cyclical in families--an abused child grows up to be an abusive parent. However, it is also possible for people to overcome the effects of child abuse. Sometimes a caring teacher can make a difference or if the person goes to a good counselor and gets needed help. Despite the seriousness of physical child abuse, non-physical forms of child abuse such as emotional abuse and spiritual abuse, are more devastating in the long run. Because of their lack of experience, children don't know that what is happening is wrong. When an adult tells them they are stupid or worthless, they believe that adult and the psychological results of believing this sort of message will last well into adulthood. A major problem is that family dynamics are complex. There is no way to make a hard and fast rule about what emotional abuse consists of. For example, we might say that name-calling is emotional abuse--but a family member can use a bad name in a joking, non-hurtful way while another person could say a nice name in a nasty way. It is for this reason that non-physical forms of child abuse are much more difficult to challenge and prove in a court of law.

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