Reporter: What do you do for a living?
Father: I am a brick-layer

Reporter: How many kids do you have?
Father: God has blessed me with 7 children

Reporter: With how many wives?
Father: Just me and my wife

Reporter: The income you make, is it enough?
Father: Not at all, we are managing

Many low-income families have failed to ask the Lord why they were assigned such a large number of children but have not been given the means to care for these children. Most of us grew up in large families with many siblings and parents who could not afford "two round meals" a day for us. So, as we grew up, we had to be actively involved in activities that generate income for the family, or else we would all sleep hungry.
The line between chores and work was not well-defined, and the same was the case between labour and training. We had to learn how to survive in our own reality. Learn to fetch water from the stream, gather firewood, work on the farm, assist father with brick-laying at a construction site, cook food, take care of younger siblings, and hawk fruits, vegetables or water for extra income. Life had to teach us resourcefulness. To shape our personality and values, we had folklore, rules and regulations enforced by scolding, restrictions or punishment. The earlier you learn these things, the better your chances of growing up responsible.

What do you think? This has been our experience; were we being abused or trained?

What is child abuse?

According to Wikipedia;
"Child abuse which could also be called child endangerment or child maltreatment is any physical, sexual, emotional or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child, especially by a parent or a caregiver."

In some cases of child abuse, it could include the actions or inactions that result in actual or a potential harm to the child; this can happen at their home, in their school, or in any organization the child is associating with.
Putting it simply, it is any action or inaction that is in violation of a child's right.

What are the rights of a child?

The United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (CRC). States that a child has the right to life, which I would love to include the unborn child to this list. The right to survive and develop.
Children are naturally very vulnerable, so they need a lot of protection from violence and exploitation, and their little voices should be heard. They have the right to good health and good quality education.

A child could be abused in a number of ways ranging from:

Physical abuse:
Some were unfortunate to have a drunk father or one who was excessive about punishment, resulting in physical injury from hitting, cutting, shaking, or burning.

Emotional abuse:
Verbal or non-verbal abuse that comes with name-calling and demeaning remarks can bleash away a child's self-esteem or emotional development. Imagine the shame you get when you are told your mum and dad are fighting again.

Sexual abuse:
Any form of sexual exploitation or molestation, ranging from unwanted touching to coercion and sexually taking advantage of a minor.

Neglect:
This often contains inactions, the failure to provide the child with their basic needs, such as clothing, food, shelter, supervision and some form of education.

I am still looking for a category to place child soldiers, child labour, child brides and victims of paedophilia.
A child soldier rings all the bells under physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
A victim of paedophilia has also experienced multiple overlapping cases of abuse as they are physically, emotionally, sexually abused, neglected and exploited. The same applies to child bride and child labour.

Consequences of child abuse

Child abuse can have severe and long-term consequences on the child, the family and the community as a whole.
The child physically suffers the injury and gets fractured bones, bruises, cuts and burns. Sometimes it leads to serious chronic health problems and some forms of physical disability.
Psychologically, an abused child suffers from serious anxiety, shame and a loss of self-esteem. This is sometimes ganished with feelings of fear, sadness, or hopelessness, resulting in flashbacks, nightmares and the tendency to isolate themselves and develop trust issues.
With such a family, we get a lot of violence and risky behaviours from persons who have difficulties keeping a relationship as they become aggressive and abusive. Poor performance at school and unable to keep a job.

Tell-tell signs that a child is abused

Some physically observable signs are bruises, burns, or broken bones. Such a child will have injuries that are in various stages of healing.
They become aggressive and will often fight at school. Such a child will be overly anxious around some people or situations that often lead to abuse
Some signs could be observed in their speech. They may tell that they are abused or possess an unusual knowledge of sexual acts that is beyond their age. Verbal Signs

The issue of child abuse in Nigeria

A lot of churches in Nigeria have kicked out young helpless children from their homes into the street, calling them witches. Institutionalised corruption has kept families poor and unable to feed or cloth children, as keeping the people poor is good for Nigerian politics and politicians.
Educating the people on the concept of child abuse conflicts with our reality, culture, values and economic status.

The break-layer can not give his kids breakfast, lunch and dinner. What he can afford is nothing balance at all. Their clothes are ragged, and they all live in a dilapidated abandoned government project.
The father is not intentionally cruel. He is depressed by the load of responsibility, worsened by his lack of education. A legacy he will surely pass on to his kids, the same way he inherited it from his parents.
Basic education is free, but it lacks quality. Only the wealthy can afford the type of circular education that can guarantee a good job for their kids. The child of the poor must take up chores at home and some activities outside to generate income as a form of training and survival strategy. Only the rich can buy and enforce these rights for their kids, which often makes them feel overly entitled as they grow up around the poor. It is a serious checkmate for us.
Child trafficking and harmful cultural rites like FGM are still practised in some places; conflict zones still produce child soldiers, and child molesters can escape through loopholes in the justice system.
Don't get me wrong. We have people fighting for the rights of children, but the system and corruption are fighting back.

Conclusion and Invitation

The rights of children should be protected as they are vulnerable to exploitation. We must keep our kids safe. Have a limited number of kids to make it easy to uphold their rights with the limited resources available.

I am inviting the following to participate: @josepha, @ninapenda, @akareen and @sahmie

Media Credit

Composer	@manuelhooks
Graphics from	pixabay.com
Entry type	Contest participation
Organizer	@anasuleidy
Date	Fri.. 16th May
	(@) 2025