button, I am in agreement with those who said 1) yes, it's abuse. 2) you need to get away. 3) Confronting your mother is maybe a bad idea until you get out or have a place to go.

I confronted my mother in high school. I had a teacher who guessed what was happening to me at home. She asked me if my parents hit. I lied and said that they used to. She said if they ever started again, I could come to live with her and she'd made sure I got to college because she figured that was what was holding me in place, the fear that I could not go to college if I ran away. I told her I was also staying to protect my little sister. The teacher promised she would take my sister also. So, the next time my mother went to hit me, I stood up straight and said, "No. You can't hit me anymore. I have someplace to go. I will take my little sister and leave and you won't see either of us again." She screamed and raged and threw things, but she never hit me again.

Confronting when you're still trapped and helpless is too dangerous.