The most recent survey commissioned by Prevent Child Abuse America, completed in late February 1998, found the following:

• 37 percent of American parents had reported insulting or swearing at their children within the past 12 months
• 50 percent had neglected their child’s emotional needs, with 60 percent of these respondents indicating that this neglect took place "almost every day"
• 6 percent had hit, or tried to hit, their children with their hands or with a foreign object
• 1 percent had kicked, bit or punched their children within the last 12 months

"It may not sound alarming to say that one percent of parents in America report that they kicked, bit or punched their children in the past 12 months," said Johnson. "But, one percent of the estimated 103 million parents of children under 17 years of age in this country still amounts to a large number of children, and that only accounts for the parents who admit to engaging in this behavior."

For more info see: Prevent Child Abuse America©