Arias1
Jose Arias
Gregory Turner
English 1 (13194)
October25, 2017
The Social issue of Child Abuse
We now live in a world of many social issues; social issues are problems that influence considerable number of individuals with-in our society. Many of these issues have a conflicting opinion and what is perceived as a morally personal life or societal order. Tulare County has had a major increase in child abuse within the past few years, that has led to the increase of many programs around the county. Child abuse has become one of the most difficult social issue a Tulare County officer has had to investigate. Jessie Cox a former detective and now a Patrol Sergeant for the Tulare County Sheriff’s department mentioned that Child abuse cases were almost daily and occur at alarmingly high rates. Many of these child abuse cases became the outcome of troubled families, most of these cases lead to poor academic performance, mental health problems, and higher crime rates. Not only does it lead to these problems, it also leads to lifelong problems as an adult because of this childhood trauma. There are many programs that offer solutions and offer help to those in need, but why is child abuse on the rise?
Child abuse has always been an issue in the Tulare County area; none the less, the Central Valley as well. Many of these children come from troubled families whom their parents don’t feed them, sexually abuse them, and physical or emotional abuse them. Some statistics from the Kidsdata.org “Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect, by Type of Abuse” say that 24.3% are At risk/sibling abused, 1.0% are been abuse by their care taker, 2.8% are been emotionally abuse, 45% are been generally neglected by their parents, 18.9% were physically abuse, 1.3 % were sever neglected, and 6.5% are sexually abuse in the Tulare County Area. These rates were back in 2015. According to a very valuable source, one in eleven children in the Tulare County become victims of such abuse. Former Detective and now Patrol Sergeant for the South Side of Tulare County mentioned that child abuse cases had become almost a twice a week type of case. He also mentioned that these cases sometimes were very hard to do because sometimes the children wouldn’t talk. He also noted that in some cases it would be hard go thru the evidence, for example, photos of children’s or the corps of a child laying down on the floor because of force trauma. He mentioned that his focus was to help those children in need, as a law enforcement officer and a father he felt that it was his duty. He also mentioned that there are many ways to know if a child is being abuse and that starts with the way they act around other people.
Many people think that it’s up to a law enforce officer to help this issue, however, it is not. We as a society should be able to address this issue and eliminate it. No child should have to go thru any abuse nor harm. There are many ways to know if a child is been abuse. According to the Tulare County Child Abuse Prevention Council “10 Ways YOU Can Prevent Child Abuse”. The first is to understand what child abuse it. It Is a Physical and sexual abuse clearly constitutes maltreatment, but so does neglect. For example, not providing a child with basic needs such as food, clothing, and care. The second way is to know the signs, unexplained injuries are not only the sign of abuse, depression, feat of a certain person or place, anxiety, difficulty trusting other or even making new friends. It can also be the change in eating habits, sleeping patterns, inappropriate sexual behavior, poor hygiene, secrecy, and hostility. The third way is to report the abuse, be watchful and alert, seeing if a child is been harmed or you see the evidence of abuse make the report. Listening carefully to the child about abuse it assuring the child that they did the right thing. The fourth way is to educate yourself and others to be more effective in preventing child abuse. The fifth way is to teach children their rights, they learn to understand that they have rights to be safe. The sixth way is to examine your behavior, because abuse is not just a physical thing, words can have inflicting, lasting wounds. The seventh way is to discipline your children thoughtfully without been emotionally frustrated, or angry. The eight way is to support prevention programs that offer great information and help those in need. The ninth way is to invest in kids by encouraging leaders in the community to support children and families. The last way is to volunteer your time by getting involved in your community.
These methods are being used by programs around the Tulare County area. There are many programs offered that can help reduce child abuse. For example, the Tulare County has a project named The Lisa Project that has helped exposed child abuse. According to the Visalia Time Delta “Lisa Project aims to expose child abuse” they mentioned that child abuse is still a hidden behind doors”. This project has helped tell stories of child abuse and offers a 10-minute walkthrough of the Lisa Project which comes face to face with the reality of child abuse and neglect. Other programs offer extended help for those who need or people who would like more information. The Tulare County Office of Education also offer a program that helps understand the importance of child abuse and mentions that 5 children die from child abuse and 1,800 children end up in the juvenile court dependency. We should help those children in need instead of letting them become the victim of the worse social issue.
This social issue has really impact our community and all Tulare County. Child abuse numbers have arisen but why haven’t we done much to reduce these rates? In order to reduce this issue or get rid of it, we should learn ways to prevent it child abuse and offer those children’s the care they need. Many law enforcement officers such as Jessie Cox, who do anything to help the children’s have really gotten involve in programs. Getting to understand child abuse and ways to prevent it have really helped reduce it; However, we have really learned too much about the issue. If we learn and teach others we can eliminate this social issue. Tulare County Programs are being offered why not use them and help reduce child abuse.
Work Cited
Cole, Ph.D. Nicki Lisa. "Understanding Systemic Racism."ThoughtCo. N.p., 14 Apr. 2017. Web. 14 Sept. 2017. <
“Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect, by Type of Abuse.”Kidsdata.org,
pe/table#fmt=3&loc=2,359&tf=84&ch=19,18,17,16,15,13,14,12,20&sortColumnId=0&sortType=asc.
“10 Ways YOU Can Prevent Child Abuse.”Tulare County County Child Abuse Prevention Council, tularecountycapc.org/prevention/.
Tulare County Office of Education - School Health Programs,
Orozco, Donna. “Lisa Project aims to expose child abuse.”Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register, 30 Mar. 2016,
2016/03/30/lisa-project-aims-expose-child-abuse/82441586/.
Cox, Jessie. “Professional Interview.” 19 Oct. 2017.Tulare County Sheriff Department