Child abuse happens all around the world and, the novel Forged by Fire shows examples of what kids in these scenarios are going through. When a child is going through abuse, you can acknowledge signs and prevent the situation from getting any worse. In this case you should always get help or contact someone when you know something is off, or if you’re going through it yourself. Child abuse is something that should be stopped immediately when it’s brought to someone’s attention. Just like in the novel, when Gerald was abused as a baby, it was then brought to the proper authority’s acknowledgment so they took charge.
There are so many different ways that the harmful actions someone portrays to a child, could link to child abuse. To start off with, in the United States there has been many cases of abuse. For instance according to “National Children’s Allince”, in the year of 2015 about 1,670 kids were killed due to abuse and neglect. “Annually around 700,000 children are abused in America, and/or neglected”(National Children’s Alliance). In edition, child protective services is a service that investigates the events related to child abuse, so they can then help/protect the victim of the crime. Therefore, cps is able protect over millions of children in scenarios like these. Although, in cases related to this abuse it’s discovered that around 90% of the time, the abuser is someone related to the child/victim (National Childrens Alliance).
As an example in the book, Gerald was abused by his Mom Monique, and her Boyfriend Jordan. In the end there are many different statistics that describe how child abuse is brought upon in the United States. When it comes to child abuse there are many different forms/cases of it. To begin with “Child Endangerment is the act of putting a child through emotional, physical, and physiological abuse” (Criminal.findlaw). This means that the abuser is putting the child at possible risk of injury and harm. In other words, Child Abandonment is similar to Child Endangerment, but instead it means” the act of a parent/guardian deserting a child with the intention of not taking care of them ” (Criminal-law freeadvice).
Some signs of these types of abuse can be bruises, bone fractures, health information such as weight loss or blood levels, and anything regarding physical harm or unhealthy behaviors. Some other forms of child abuse can be neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, domestic abuse (etc). When it comes to these type of abuses, in the novel Angel not only went through physical and emotional abuse but also sexual abuse, where in the book Jordan would touch her in inappropriate places and do inappropriate things. But, the signs Angel showed like discomfort and crying her brother Gerald was able to help out and take action.
People all around the world might have different motives as why they abuse kids. Two examples as to why they might do this is for one because they’re drug addicts just like Monique in Forged by Fire, another reason as to why they do it is because they’re alcoholics just like Jordan in the novel. Abuse can be stopped in many ways such as reaching out to the proper authority like teachers, police officers, guidance counselors, and other trustworthy family members for example. Once you reach out and get some help the abuser will get the consequences they need to face after committing these crimes. A consequence could be getting jail time just like Monique and Jordan because the events of them abusing kids is what got them there. Child abuse resources such as the child abuse national hotline can help you begin your journey of seeking help, the telephone number is 1-800-442-4453 (Childhelp.org) and this number will help out the victim effectively.
In conclusion Forged by Fire educates the many ways of abuse and how it can be stopped. Child abuse is something that should whoever is going through it needs to reach out immediately. There are many resources that are available and if the victim needs someone to talk to after their traumatic experience someone is always there. When a child is abuse they should talk to someone about it so it doesn’t have a tremendous effect of their future.
Child abuse is a sad thing that no child should exposed to.