This paper focuses on the statistics of physical abuse in the United States, and the effects that it has on the victims involved. It also concentrates on the most common causes and symptoms of this epidemic, as well as discussing many ways to prevent these helpless children from being harmed. Moreover, I believe it is very important for a future teacher to be aware of the causes, signs, and damages of physical abuse. In addition, prevention measures should be taken into deep consideration. In return, this knowledge may help save a child's life after mandatory reports and investigations are complete, and the child has been removed from the harmful environment. The statistics for physical abuse seem to be rising each year. This is not so much a result from changes in actions, but, however, a change in reports. Recently, public and professional awareness and attention have greatly increased the number of cases being reported, and have definitely helped child abuse to be recognized as the major problem it is in the United States. .
Physical abuse is the nonaccidental infliction of physical injury to a child. In most cases, the abuser is normally a family member or other care taker, and is more likely to be male. However, females also play a predominant role in the physical abuse, especially in the form of Munchausen syndrome. This is when the caretaker (most often the mother) seeks attention by making the child sick or even just appear to be sick (Baker, 1999). In recent years, cases have overflowed our hospitals, foster care homes, social worker case loads, and court dockets. Since 1980, reports of child abuse have quadrupled (Children Today,1992). . In 1996, more than three million victims of physical abuse were reported to the child protective services agencies in the United States, and the reports were substantiated in more than one million cases. Another estimated 3 million cases of suspected child abuse were reported to child protective agencies in the year 2000 (Bechtel, 2003).
