ABSTRACT
This study examinedawareness of preventive measures of child abuse in selected secondary schools in Ugbowo Community. The objective were to determine the causes of child abuse among students of selected secondary schools in Ugbowo community; to ascertain the consequences of child abuse among students of selected secondary schools in Ugbowo community; to examine the extent to which parental socio-economic status influence child abuse among students of selected secondary schools in Ugbowo community; to ascertain the extent to which public enlightenment campaign stand a chance in the prevention of child abuse among students of selected secondary schools in Ugbowo community; as well as to ascertain the extent to which stiffer penalties stand a chance in the prevention of child abuse among students of selected secondary schools in Ugbowo community. To achieve the objective of the study, two hundred and ten (210) questionnaires were administered by the researcher, of which one hundred and ninety-one (191) were returned successfully and were used for the data analysis and presentation.
The hypotheses were tested using chi-square statistical tool. At the end of the analysis, it was discovered that broken home, poverty, lack of parental supervision, greed/laziness socioeconomic inequality are the major causes of child abuse in Ugbowo community in Edo State; that child abuse can lead to child hardness, children who are abuse develop anti-social trait, children who are abuse are more vulnerable to sexual transmitted diseases, children who are abuse could be a deviant in society, child abuse triggers youth suicide, among other consequences; that parental socio-economic status stand a chance in the prevention of child abuse among students of selected secondary schools in Ugbowo community; that that public enlightenment campaign stand a chance in the prevention of child abuse among students of selected secondary schools in Ugbowo community; and that stiffer penalties stand a chance in the prevention of child abuse among students of selected secondary schools in Ugbowo community
In line with these findings, the researcher recommend that government should recognize child abuse as a social problem which has a negative effect on the economy, and the full wrath of the law should be meted out on those who violate these young ones through speedy hearings in the courts or special tribunals as justice delayed is justice denied.
