Child Negligence

Child negligence is a major social issue that our so-called civilized society needs to address at the earliest. If left unchecked and burdened by the plethora of laws that the layman is hardly aware of, it can lead to a mental and emotional blockage in the future generations. It's a sorry state of affairs, that millions and millions of children all over the world are subject to child negligence in one of the many forms. For the uninitiated, I will try to highlight that child abuse and child exploitation are not strictly child negligence, but they may be one of the possible consequences of child negligence. So, before proceeding further, let us understand what exactly is child negligence.

The various devilish facets of child negligence, that a child may unfortunately have to encounter, are physical negligence, emotional negligence, medical negligence and educational negligence. Child abuse negligence is an even more serious form of child negligence as it is during this time, that your child needs you the most. Legally, anybody under the age group of 18 years is considered to be a child. The child may be neglected by the caretaker, guardians, parents, step-father/mother, day care center personnel, schools and relatives. These people, on whom the child depends on, may either ignore the child on purpose or in some of the cases, unknowingly. The possible ways that the caretakers, guardians and foster parents neglect a child are discussed below.

Physical Negligence
The child may not be given the basic amenities that are necessary for his/her survival. These may include neglecting the proper amount of nutritious diet, providing adequate clothing and ignoring the physical needs of the child. The causes of physical negligence can be attributed to the lack of adequate literacy and awareness of proper parenting styles among the parents. Often, not attending to the child in its developing years, leads to some serious accidents and fatal blows to the child, that resurface in the grown up years and cause numerous health problems. For instance, if you are leaving your kid unattended in the house, he may fall from the stairs, consume something toxic and fall seriously ill.

There have been cases when the child had cut his hands due to a sharp knife, when left unattended in the house. These things though rare, still exist and need to be taken control of. These factors are nothing but negligent supervision of a child. Often the child care centers, become negligent and ill treat the children, in terms of their physical needs. These cases should immediately be brought to the notice of the concerned authorities, so that child negligence is avoided at its earliest stage. Physical negligence in worst forms, is a type of child abuse. Negligence on the part of the caretaker and parents must be handled very seriously by the law.

Emotional Negligence
Unfortunately, emotional negligence is the most widespread form of child maltreatment, that exists in our society. Ignoring the emotional needs, like providing emotional security, love and an affectionate hug to the child, is like depriving him of emotional negligence. Often, the material needs of the child are satisfied, but due to the lack of an emotional cushion, child development is hampered. A child is emotionally neglected by the parents, often unknowingly, as the parents may not realize that their child needs some extra attention and love.

If the child is not able to share his/her feelings with their parents, it may result in the emotional alienation of the child. As a parent, it is a necessity that we regularly talk and understand our children. Why will parents emotionally neglect their children? Well, the parents may have suffered emotional negligence in their childhood days and now when they are parents, it is a psychological effect that the parents are behaving in a similar fashion with their own offsprings. Another possible reason, is amongst the parents who hardly have any productive time for their kids. Long hours of stressful works, months of traveling for business and work, etc. may make your child feel like an alien even in your own home. It is to be understood that to be loved and cared is the most basic need of a human and the children are no exceptions to this fact.

Leaving your child in a emotionally drained situation can lead to psychological problems like separation anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, depression and lack of confidence. Its highly probable that they may look out for external sources to satisfy their needs and this may incline them towards company of friends, who have a history of drug abuse, alcohol addiction, smoking and similar unhealthy habits. Child care centers and orphanages should be administered with strict government supervision, so that the child residing in it does not feel alone and emotionally insecure. Excellent and loving teachers must be a part of such homes and child day care centers.

Medical Negligence
Not giving the child a proper treatment in the times of health related issues and ignoring the regular check ups and vaccinations for the child, is categorized under medical negligence. The basic reason behind medical negligence can be unawareness. Often, the parents or the caretakers understand that the child is just trying to seek attention and so they ignore any symptoms that the child may be complaining about. This can aggravate the problem and cause complications to the child. Another probable reason is poverty, that majorly affects the children in many developing countries. Parents and caretakers cannot afford the medical costs of their child's treatment and so they leave them in the hands of fate. It may sound a bit crazy, but the fact is, that millions and millions of children in many countries have no access to proper medical check ups.

Educational negligence
Education is an important phase of life and if in the formative years of the childhood, the children are not allowed access to reading, writing and inculcate analytical studies, it is tough for them to compete in the world. This type of negligence is mostly rampant in families, where there is a history of poor literacy. If the parents can't afford the school fees, they stop sending their children to school. Even in a few Asian and African countries, the female child is debarred from access to education, whereas the male child enjoys this privilege. There are many social taboos attached to gender bias in education, in these countries. What else is this, if not a form of child negligence? The question lies in front of us and we need to answer it.

There is a subtle and profound difference in being a father or mother and in being a parent. Just being a biological father or mother demeans and degrades the value of the beautiful relationship of a child and his parents. Parenting is just like giving a life and meaning to the child and making the child grow as a person. All over the world, there are campaigns and organizations working for the elimination of child negligence in any form. An awareness, both at the social platform and at an individual level, is of utmost importance in order to curb this menace. Let's join hands in order to reduce child negligence, after all, as Wordsworth has rightly said, "child is the father of man".