Child abuse is one of the most tragic problems in America today. Every year, more than three million American children are beaten, neglected, or sexually abused by their parents or guardians. Newborns as young as a few days old and adolescents are subject to child abuse. There are four types of child abuse: physical abuse, physical neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. Child abuse is a serious problem affecting America's youth and must be stopped. Physical abuse is a form of child abuse. According to social agencies, beatings against children have multiplied in the last twenty years. Physical abuse is any abuse that is harmful to the child. This type of abuse includes physical discipline that causes invisible injuries to the child. It also includes the use of a life-threatening weapon, such as a gun or knife, against a child and any abuse resulting in a serious injury requiring immediate medical attention, which may be life-threatening, which may cause harm mental and/or physical impairment, could cause disfigurement, or chronic pain is too classified as physical child abuse. Another form of physical abuse is any knowing or intentional mistreatment that, in the opinion of a licensed physician, causes serious physical harm and/or results in hospitalization for treatment of such injury or condition; this may include physical injuries suffered as a result of abuse or conditions resulting from a parent's willful failure to act to prevent this from happening to the child. Physical neglect is defined as the failure to provide for the child's physical survival needs to the extent that harm or risk of harm to the child's health and safety occurs. Physical neglect includes these four things: inadequate food, inadequate housing, inadequate medical care, and inadequate supervision. 42% of all child abuse reports involve allegations of physical neglect. The inadequate food element includes a child who is intentionally or deliberately not fed or given water. It also includes a doctor's diagnosis of growth failure due to a parent's failure to feed the child. Inadequate hospitalization includes serious and prolonged illness resulting from exposure to the elements or serious and dangerous substances, as evidenced by serious injuries. Inadequate medical care includes the child not receiving medical care... middle of paper... aggression, ignorance and indifference, or constant family conflict. It also includes punishments such as locking the child in a dark closet. Sometimes such behaviors can cause serious mental disorders. If a child is sufficiently degraded, he or she will begin to live up to the image communicated by the abusive parent or caregiver. This type of abuse is the hardest to notice because it leaves no bruises. A child who is emotionally abused may appear withdrawn or display frustration by abusing other children, animals, or things. Child abuse is a serious problem affecting America's youth and must be stopped. Physical abuse and physical neglect can hurt someone to the point that they need to visit the hospital or even die. Sexual abuse can cause injury and scar someone for life with the memory of the act or acts of sexual abuse that the child did to them. Emotional abuse can also scar someone for life, meaning it can change your behavior towards the world and everyone in it because of an incident or series of acts that happened during your childhood. Child abuse must be stopped so that we can have normal and prosperous youth tomorrow.