Iceberg in Society
In 2009, it was documented that nearly 763,000 children reported multiple times that they had been abused and an estimated 702,000 children came forward with one claim (Unknown. 2011). These numbers only represent the children to whom that are strong enough to tell someone and hope for some change. No one really knows how many children are abused throughout his or her life. This is such a huge epidemic today that it can be compared to an iceberg; small amount of the ice you see however, the larger portion is hidden. Most individuals know that the forms of abuse range from the medically neglected and physical abuse to abandonment and mental abuse. Typically, children will finally come forward after someone outside the family notices a change in the child’s demeanor or sees marks that do not appear to be from everyday playing. The government has several programs today in place to attempt to help children and their parents. Today we will discuss one program in the state of Louisiana, Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana or PCAL. We will discuss the history of the locally funded program, whether they are effective as a group, and see if the help they do give will guide children in the right direction for the future.
Neglect, physical, mental, and even sexual are the types of abuse seen every day. Physical abuse is the most visible form of abuse seen in children. This can be defined as any type of injury caused by punching, smacking, burning or any sort of harm done to a child. Parents can inadvertently do this to their child when their anger just the best of the situation. Most parents would not take their anger out like this, however in some cases, such as when drugs and alcohol are involved, they may not see what there are doing until it is too late. Sometimes you cannot rightly see the signs of the abuse however noticing that the child is