Child abuse is a topic that many people try to overlook due to the provocative stories and misconceptions held by many unsuspecting people; Controversially, this topic should be something that people should educate themselves about and should be aware that this is an urgent concern and that children desperately need help. One of the most common forms of child abuse is incest: Incest is any sexual contact or act between relatives or with any individual the child deems trustworthy. This severe form of abandonment and broken trust with a child can lead to maladaptive relationships in the future. The first people children are exposed to are the same people they learn to trust and are the ones who model what a healthy relationship looks like. However, if the first relationships depicted are manipulative, abusive, or misrepresented in any way, it is nearly impossible for an individual to display appropriate relationships in the future. For all the misconceptions and psychological effects on victims of child abuse, a more simplified, but still tragic, aspect is the deterrent obstacle that abuse poses to education. Even the simplest forms of contempt can discourage any child from the learning process, whether education is available or not. There have been reports of feral children who are animalistic and cannot even speak. “A feral child is a child who has been isolated from human interaction for much of his life.” (NOVA, 1997). The most harmful aspect of child abuse, however, is the fact that abuse is abuse. The most compelling types of abuse are sexual and physical, where incest is the most serious form of sexual abuse, considering the trauma it entails... paper medium......potty and its crib. Eventually, social workers found Genie and took this feral child away from his birth parents. When they took her out of the house, she could neither walk nor speak. She was animalistic in that she constantly spit and clawed her face. The social workers thought that Genie was not capable of leading a fairly normal life, but they thought wrong. “Although Genie spent years isolated from the world, she was starting to speak and grow both physically and mentally. This gave doctors hope that Genie could make a full recovery." (NOVA, 1997). In conclusion, children cut off from society have difficulty learning later in life when other specialists try to teach them. At extremely advanced stages of life, children must learn to do the basics that newborns learn, and in many cases it is almost impossible to live a normal life.