Minor Definition Essay

Child abuse is when a child whose parent or other person legally responsible for his/her care imposes major injury upon the child; or causes a risk of the same; or commits a sexual offense; or allows someone else to perpetrate maltreatment on a child

Child Abuse: When a parent or any caregiver causes injury, emotional harm, or death to a child.

The second type is mischief, which is not necessarily serious but intentional misbehavior. For example, taking a cookie from the cookie jar when no one is around even though they know they can’t have cookies until after dinner. The third type is mayhem which is willfully serious misbehavior that calls for reconciliatory justice; for example, some sort of behavior that hurts people or destroys things. These needs to be addressed in a way that keeps the students from doing it again and a way that shows them what to do instead.

Out of school suspensions (OSS) are often enforced with the assumption that students receiving the suspension are less likely to repeat the problem behavior in the future. However, this has been proven to be false. Suspending a student for engaging in a certain behavior does not in fact serve as a deterrent from the behavior but as a deterrent from attending school instead. In actuality, receiving just a single suspension can increase the probability of a student experiencing academic failure, school dropout, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. Knowing this, some educators still believe that for many students, suspension can serve as an effective lesson. One of the greatest concerns that educators and administrators face is the matter of classroom management. It is part of their job to ensure a safe, productive and supportive classroom allowing students to learn and grow to their greatest potential. Though there are several strategies gauged towards managing a classroom, the most severe offences often lead to either in or out of school suspension. Some of the largest concerns faced with out of school suspensions is that they are often ineptly applied, used unfairly against students of color and seemingly ineffective at producing better behavior. Also known as exclusionary discipline, the majority of offenses that led to OSS have not been centered around violence but instead emphasised issues of classroom insubordination and defiance. In some rather extreme cases

Abuse is behaviour towards a person which deliberately or unintentionally causes harm to them. It is a violation of an individual’s human and civil rights and in the worst cases can result in death.

Zero-tolerance policies developed to prevent drug abuse and violence in school in 1990 in the U.S. Even if those behaviors or small things minor offenses were done by accident or unconsciously, students get prosecuted and sent into the juvenile justice system as a punishment. Schools create disciplines for suspending and expelling students when they break certain rules. For example, if a student brings a weapon to school, including items that may not hurt anyone like nail clippers and toy guns, if a student has drugs, including medications or alcohol on campus, if a student says anything that someone could get as a threat, if a student does not obey teacher’s instruction, if a student fights with other students, the student would be given punishment with no choice. After adopting this policy, the number of school suspensions and dismissals increased, and the number of students who send into the prison also increased as well. Therefore, the school to prison pipeline became an issue in the education system.

any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm. (as cited in ?The Child Abuse,? 2010, p. 6)

Physical abuse > is anything done that harms someone physically, done with the intention to do harm.

unintentionally endangers the mental, physical, or academic health or safety of a student (U of

The unlawful performing of sexual acts involving body penetration by a person against the will or consent of another living being.

Sexual abuse – knowingly causing someone to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat

Currently, sentences vary based on mental state, injury, and offense level (Benson-Varghese 2017). The three levels of mental state include “intentionally or knowingly caused”, caused by

Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. (85)

Physical abuse involves the use of force by pinching, punching, slapping, scalding, hitting, kicking, burning or misuse of medication, restraint or inappropriate sanctions. It is a form of physical attack on an individual, it can also be a intentional neglect to prevent physical injury.

The most severe form of sexual offense is rape. The state of Massachusetts defines rape as the penetration of any bodily orifice without consent and with force or threat of force. Over 50 percent of reported rapes were committed by people who the victims knew well. In addition, seven percent of rape victims are male.