Child Abuse
...nd neglect. Data from the 1999 National Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting System (NCANRS) indicated there were almost 3 million referrals of possible child maltreatment brought to the attention of child protective services (CPS) in 1999,” ( Dake; Murnan; and Price, p. 76, 3003). Maltreatment of children as recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services identifies several components including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, and educational neglect. It is important for teachers to remember that although active physical abuse may appear more blatantly obvious and horrific, physical neglect is much more common among children (Rathus, 2004). Teachers must not ignore the warning signs of any of these forms of abuse or second-guess their best judgment regarding possible abusive situations as students suffer tremendously when they become a victim of any one of these situations. “A number of factors contribute to the probability that parents will abuse their children. They include situational stress, a history of child abuse in at least one of those parents’ families of origin, lack of adequate coping and problem-solving skills, deficiency in child-rearing skills, unrealistic expectations of what a child should be able to do at a given developmental level, and substance abuse,” (Rathus, p. 255-256, 2004). It is also important to note the importance of teachers looking for warning signs of abusive situations in the lives of not only the younger students but the older students as well. “Child abuse may affect older children and adolescents more often than among younger children, [however] many people are reluctant to report maltreatment of adolescents to child protective services. Adolescents are also frequently perceived as being responsible for their own abuse,” (Council on Scientific Affairs, p. 1850, 1993). As opposed to research on child abuse in early elementary children, it has been found that those that abuse adolescents “are more likely to be educated and from a higher socioeconomic class,” (Council on Scientific Affairs, p. 1850, 1993). Teachers must be careful not to make assumptions that a child is not a victi...