Child Abuse

                                                                                                                                                           March 15, 2012

Dear Mr. President,

                My name is Rachel, and I go to Parkway West Middle School in Chesterfield, Missouri.  I am writing to you today to share some information about child abuse and how it needs to be stopped.

                When I first heard about the term "child abuse," I thought about the idea of child cruelty, as in forcing children to do things that would harm them or someone else.  The more I researched, the more I learned that child abuse can come in two different forms: emotional and physical.   I also found out that most abuse comes from parents, as opposed to strangers.

                One thing that stood out to me was that abused children often turn into violent adults. A frightening statistic from John Mersch, MD, FAAP, is that 16% of abused men and 36% of abused women grow up to have a criminal record of violence. This shows that not only does child abuse hurt the child, but it also hurts the people the child interacts with, weakening communities around the world.  According to www.childabuse.gov, 80% of children being abused in America are under the age of five years old.  Since a five year old brain has barely developed, in some cases it can lead to death before they even had a chance to live.  There is no excuse for this, no matter what the child has done.

For older children, abuse can lead to suicide.  According to The Center for Disease Control, as of January 27, 2011, there were 36,909 suicides committed, mostly due to child abuse.  What child deserves death? Child abuse is affecting the well-being of today's youth and needs to be stopped. Today's youth is tomorrow's leaders.

                I am writing to you to create a change and to save lives that are at stake.  I am asking you to make the abolition of child abuse a nationwide law. There should be greater penalty for people who chose to hurt children.

                Thank you for reading this letter and for considering putting a stop to this issue.

                               

                                                                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                                                                Rachel
Parkway West Middle School
Saint Louis, Missouri

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