"Thousands of professors at hundreds of universities teach all manner of subjects, but there is not one single university chair for research into child abuse and cruelty to children. How strange, when we recall that the majority of the people living on this earth are victims of precisely that kind of treatment" (Grapes 48). Not only has child abuse become a continually growing problem over the years, but it has also become a subject that is often avoided and ignored by society. Child abuse is not only affecting society, but unfortunately it is affecting children across the United States physically, psychologically and socially; and it must be stopped.
             Every single year over 3.1 million children are abused or neglected nationally ("Child Abuse: What..." n.pag). In fact, 2,000 children die annually just from child abuse and neglect (n.pag). It really is sad to think that every single day in the United States three or more children die as a result of child abuse or neglect (Kim 101). Child abuse is not only physically harmful to the child, but it also affects a child emotionally. In fact, there are four types of child abuse, emotional, physical, sexual, and neglect. According to Bruce Perry, chief of psychiatry at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, neglect is the most common form of child abuse, accounting for 52 percent of all victims; while physical abuse accounts for 24 percent and sexual abuse only 6 percent (Grapes 39). The remaining percent is a combination of medical abuse, emotional abuse, and unidentified factors.
             Emotional abuse, also known as mental abuse, verbal abuse, and psychological maltreatment can cause serious behavioral, cognitive, and emotional or mental disorders. It is often considered emotional abuse when a parent or care taker rarely shows
             encouragement, refuses to speak to the child for days, or threatens to hurt the child. In addition, emotional abuse is very da...