2006年英语专业四级 短文3

The most common type of child abuse, you know, is beating with hands or with an instrument, usually a cane in some places. Nearly a third of the abused children we see are in the age group between 6 and 10,
and about 65% of them are boys. This is the age group when children are first expected to study hard, and parents have great expectations of their progress in school. Boys, of course, attract more abuse such as beating, because once again parental expectations are high and boys tend to be more energetic and difficult to control than girls. Most experts seem to agree that child abuse is caused by a combination of social and psychological factors. Families who beat their children are not particularly different from other people. The only difference that exists between them is that they lack skills in establishing good relationships with their children. These families too, generally speaking, have other problems such as marriage problems or financial problems. Some parents are hurting their children because they strongly believe in the use of traditional disciplinary methods. But many of them have emotional problems. They are often the victims of violence themselves. Sometimes they even bear an unreasonable hatred for a child because they believe that the child has brought the family bad luck.