Child Abuse:
I consider anything that harms a
child (either physically or psychologically) as child abuse. I do consider
spanking as child abuse because it can harm a child both physically and
psychologically. Because of this, I do not think spanking should be allowed.
Punishment should become a public concern when the parent/caregiver physically
harms the child or goes way overboard yelling at the child. I think that
acceptable form of public punishment would be a stern talking to or a time out.
An unacceptable form of public punishment would be yelling at or hitting the
child.
Sexual Victimization:
In Iowa, it is illegal to:
·
Employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, coerce,
solicit, knowingly permit, or otherwise cause or attempt to cause a minor to
engage in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation of a prohibited sexual
act that will be reproduced as a visual image of any kind. If convicted, a
person commits a class "C" felony punishable by up to 10 years in
prison. In addition, the court may assess a fine of not more than $50,000 for
each such offense.
·
Promote any material visually depicting a live
performance of a minor engaging in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation
of a prohibited sexual act. If convicted, a person commits a class
"D" felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. In addition, the
court may assess a fine of not more than $25,000 for each such offense.
·
Purchase or possess any visual image which
depicts a minor engaging in a prohibited sexual act or the simulation of a
prohibited sexual act. A person who commits a violation of this subsection
commits an aggravated misdemeanor for a first offense.
Offenders will usually be registered as a sex offender. Sexting would fall under these laws. “Sexting”
is sending nude or sexual pictures to someone via text. I think sexting should
be punished, but not as severely as child pornography. I think the offender (the
person who took/sent the picture) should be punished. I also think the person
who receives the picture should also be punished if they encouraged the
offender to send them the picture.
Article:
One
article lists several cases of children who died as a result of abuse or
neglect. The first case mentioned was a boy named Kaleb, who was 18 months old.
In an effort to get Kaleb to go to sleep, his father suffocated him, resulting
in his death. His father was arrested and charged with 1st degree
murder and child endangerment. Seeing this article did affect me differently
than the others I saw for other posts. I think it hits harder because these
children did absolutely nothing to deserve this. Also, they could do nothing to protect themselves
or get themselves out of that situation.
Media:
I found
two pictures that depict child abuse. The first is a picture of a small child
holding out his hand. On his hand is written “Stop the abuse pretty please.”
The second picture shows what appears to be a child’s drawing of three kids.
The drawing states “It shouldn’t hurt to be a child.”
