Child Abuse Essay, Research Paper

The child’s mind a very delicate and fragile piece of space just waiting

to be fulfilled with knowledge. With every touch, taste, sight, and sound a

small part of the brain is in growth. It is these early stimulations that

are so crucial to a child’s intelligence in the years to come.

Babies are born with some knowledge that was genetically pasted down to

them form there biological parents, but it is in the next couple of years

that will be so crucial to his development. Scientists are learning more and

more about what, when, and how to talk and handle a baby that will further

there brains development. One scientist by the name of Harry Chugani

believes that early experiences “can completely change the way a person turns

out.” With the knowledge of where certain brain circuits are that control

different skills, parents and teachers can provide significant help in a

child’s knowledge development. For example scientists know that basic

language skills are located in the brains left hemisphere. So certain

factors can come in to play. But in others, like the hemispherectomy

patients it is possible to learn left hemisphere tasks in the right.

Circuits of simple words begin to be wired by the age of one. The more words

a child hears by the age of two years the larger their language skills will

grow. Therefore parents now have the understanding that the more they talk

to their children in early development the better the chance of his

vocabulary to flourish. So what about the parents that neglect their

children? Will they have a two-word vocabulary or not be able to understand

a simple math question of 2+2? No but it will take a little longer the older

the person is. But with new finding everyday a child’s mind will grow and

grow in the years to come.

In one case unparticular a child by the name of Anna was neglected from

the start. She was locked in a room and hardly ever looked after, besides

maybe a monthly feeding. She was found and removed at the age of around six

years. Anna couldn’t do anything a normal six year old could do. Walk,

talk, or even feed herself. In a similar case a girl by the name of Isabelle

lived with her mother who was a deaf-mute. She could not talk but used

gestures to communicate. In both cases the girls were able to learn skills

that they didn’t have before. It took awhile but basic skills were learned

and used. But compared to children that had interacted with people when they

were young Anna and Isabelle couldn’t even compare. These two cases alone

show how important it is to have people to interact with as a growing

individual. Therefore the two isolation cases support the thesis presented

by Sharon Begley’s “Your Child’s Brain.”

With new discoveries on the brain being made everyday a child’s mind has

nothing to do but grow with intelligence. Every touch, taste, sound and

smell plays a crucial role making it so important to interact with your

babies as soon as they are being created.