Midterm Essay

3 DAMAGES OF PHYSICAL ABUSE OF PARENTS AND

CAREGIVERS ON CHILDREN AGED 1-10

ALIZA SALMAN
GROUP A | 5TH MARCH,2022
A few months ago, I was scrolling through a well-known site known as WHO. I came across a headline
stating, "International studies reveal that nearly 3 in 4 children aged 2-4 years regularly suffer physical
punishment or psychological violence at the hands of parents and caregivers."1 I was shaken to the core
after knowing that it is not done by any stranger but by the child's parents. Child physical abuse means
when someone intentionally hurts you while you have neither control over it nor the power to stop it. It
includes hitting, slapping, kicking, pushing, punching, choking, burning, suffocating, etc. Using weapons
for hitting is not necessary so forcing you to eat something, giving you drugs, being held underwater,
locking up, or restraining you is also a part of physical abuse. It causes significant or severe pain, leaves
physical evidence, impairs physical functioning, or significantly jeopardizes the child's safety.2 The
reasons why a parent or a caregiver becomes physically abusive are; they have a history of child abuse
during their childhood, they have mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic
stress disorder, lack of parental skills, socioeconomic stress from financial issues or unemployment, etc.
This paper will discuss how abusive parents can sabotage our youth.

Parental physical abuse can lead to death in some worst cases. For evidence, I did a case study of
Gabriel Fernandez. According to what is stated in Wikipedia, the abuse was done by Gabriel's mom and
her boyfriend which included regular physical beatings causing broken bones, being forced to eat cat
litter and feces, his vomit, and spoiled or expired foods. 3He was burned with cigarettes, was also shot in
various areas of the body including the face and groin with a BB gun. He used to be pepper-sprayed and
was forced to wear women’s clothing. While his mom and her boyfriend would torture him they would
laugh at the kid. Her mom's boyfriend hated him. Whatever he went through made him suicidal and he
used to write notes to his mom telling her that he would kill himself. He badly required help but no one
aided him

Gabriel was only 8 when he was beaten to death. On May 22, 2013, authorities responded to an
emergency call at the home of Gabriel Fernandez because the 8-year-old had stopped breathing. When
paramedics arrived, they found a bruised and beaten Gabriel. His skull was cracked, three of his ribs
were broken, BB pellets were embedded in his bruised and burned skin, and two of his teeth had been
knocked out.4 He was immediately taken to a hospital but tragically died two days later. There are many
cases like Gabriel Fernandez which have led to the death of an innocent child.

Parental child abuse can easily shatter a child's confidence. It makes the child feel unwanted, unloved,
worthless, and burdensome. They would never speak up for themselves, would struggle to make friends
and relationships, and would never be able to express themselves and ask for something that they need.

1
who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/child-maltreatment

2
sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/physical-child-abuse
3
wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Gabriel_Fernandez
4
thewrap.com/trials-of-gabriel-fernandez-most-shocking-details-netflix-documentary/
They would not participate in class activities which would affect their education badly. They would never
have a goal in life and live a very dull life as they have trouble feeling hopeful.5

Lastly, abusive parents raise abusive children. Many reports tell us that most people who are criminals
have faced physical abuse in their childhood6. Children who experience child abuse are more likely to
become involved in criminal or illegal activities like rape, murder, drug abuse, child abuse, kidnapping,
etc. Their past trauma makes them unemotional, insensitive, and cruel due to which they can easily hurt
others or get involved in anything illegal. One major reason is also the fact that they are not scared to
die or get beaten up in jail

To conclude the writing I would like to add that these minors who are mistreated and brutally killed by
their caregivers are our future. It is high time we start to talk about parental abuse and take severe
actions against it so that this can end. The poor children cannot speak for themselves hence we have to
become their voice and provide security and protection to them. Numerous individuals hesitate or are
reluctant to question other people's parenting styles. Even if their behavior towards their child is
questionable and they see bruises, scars, or cuts on the child's body they never interfere or help the
child. The reason why no one interferes is they never know how serious the situation may be and they
say that it's the family's personal issue hence they never interrupt but if a child's life is at risk it is not a
personal issue at all. In our society, people believe that parents can never harm their children and what
they do is for their betterment. It is considered sinful to speak up against parents. Physical damage has
no justification. It is a serious matter which has lifelong consequences on a child's mental, emotional,
physical health.

What we can do as adults is if we see a child around us with bruises or marks or with weirdly aggressive
behaviors we can directly talk to him about it and then take further notice. If we listen to noises of
someone being beaten up, we can file a report immediately and contact the services which are
responsible for it. Reports of child abuse are made every second in the world yet every one stays quiet
and lets the damage occur. Many Gabriel like angels lost lives due to their mentally challenged parents
but what did they do to deserve this?

Word count: 936

5
nap.edu/read/2117/chapter/8#233
6
childhelp.org/child-abuse-statistic
Bibliography
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/child-maltreatmen

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/physical-child-abuse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Gabriel_Fernandez

https://www.thewrap.com/trials-of-gabriel-fernandez-most-shocking-details-netflix-documentary/

https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse-statistics/

https://www.nap.edu/read/2117/chapter/8#233