All children certainly have many experiences before they become truly mature. A child can face many dangerous things from his surroundings which could seriously affect his whole life. As defined in the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act: Child abuse is any action by an adult on a child that may be harmful to the child's body or mind (Children Welfare Information Gateway 2007). In 2005, of 3.6 million investigations conducted by child protective services agencies in the United States, an estimated 899,000 children (24.97%) were victims of child abuse (Children's Bureau 2005). In general, there are 4 typical types of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment. Child abandonment is a situation in which the child's basic needs have not been met by adults, especially parents or caregivers of the child. Child physical abuse is the action of an adult that causes visible or potential harm to the child. Child sexual abuse is any adult sexual activity within a child. Emotional maltreatment is known as child abusive behavior that affects a child's psychological life or social skills (Jaffe-Gill et al 2007). We can classify the reasons for child abuse in 3 different ways: parental causes, ecological causes and child problems (Childline Gauteng 2006). Furthermore, child abuse also has a strong influence on all aspects of the child's life, such as: physical effects, behavioral effects and emotional effects (Jaffe-Gill et al 2007). This essay will also discuss the causes and negative effects of child abuse. how to provide suggestions to assist victims. It is quite surprising to know that one of the causes is due to the child's parents. In fact, whether the father or mother of the child falls into a situation of drug or alcohol addiction, these children will not be able to receive adequate care to grow normally. The child will also be beaten or neglected without any remorse (Australian Childhood Foundation 2004). According to the Department of Health and Human Services report, in 2006, approximately 82.4% of child abuse cases were committed by at least one of the child's parents (Childhelp 2006). There was a true story about an eleven-year-old boy, named Josh, who experienced extreme neglect from his parents during his youth. After more than a year of treatment at the Tennyson Center for Children in Colorado, Josh has finally returned to normal life (Tennyson Center for Children at Colorado Christian Home 2006).