Legal aspects of child abuse and neglect as related to the public schools

Although the violent abuse of children is not a new phenomenon, public and professional concern over the plight of abused children has developed primarily in the last two decades in this country. Intense interest in the problem of child abuse was awakened when medical and other professional authorities recognized the "battered child syndrome" in the 1960's. Child abuse and neglect usually takes place in the privacy of the home; therefore, no one knows exactly the number of children affected. In order for the child to be protected, child abuse must be discovered and reported. Much of the research indicates a majority of abuse and neglect goes unreported for various reasons