Monday, July 2, 2012

Be A Voice For Children - Speak Out About Child Abuse

Now is the time to become a voice for children, to speak out about child abuse so that we can stop it. We must all become active in preventing child abuse and neglect. If you see a child being abused or if you just suspect a child is being abused or neglected, report it to someone in authority.

Don't be like the many people in the Sandusky case that did nothing, or worse were the people who turned their heads and hide the information from the authorities to protect an institution. Insititutions are not more important than people, in this instance, children.

If a child tells you they are being abused, believe them. Don't discount their feelings. Don't revictimize the child by calling them a liar or by blaming them. Child abuse is the fault of the abusers. Children, as well as the adults closest to them, are groomed by the pedophiles into trusting the person. Don't let this happen to you or your child.

If a child tells you they are being abused, tell someone and keep telling someone until some action is taken to protect the child. Tell until something is done to remove the child from the grasp of the perpetrator.

Even if you just suspect that someone is abusing or neglecting a child, report it. If you are afraid to report the suspected abuse or neglect because you might be wrong, do it any way. If you are wrong, you can always appologize. If you are right, you may have saved the life of a child and you have definitely changed the life of a child for the better.

As a child, I always wished someone would ask about if I was being sexually abused. I couldn't voluntarily ask someone for help. I was too afraid. This is true for many children. If you suspect a child is being abused, ask. Please ask. Not all children will tell you the truth, but some will. They, like me, are just waiting for someone to care enough to ask.

We will never stop child abuse if we keep doing nothing, hoping that the abuse will just go away on its own, hoping that someone else will report it. Do I need to remind you of the number of children - 117 - that a typical pedophile abuses before he is caught? Please do something to stop this abuse of our children.
Patricia

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great article Pat! Keep up the wonderful work you're doing!
The I AM University

Patricia Singleton said...

Anonymous, thank you so much.

Plain Talk and Ordinary Wisdom said...

Keeping the awareness out there of what's happening behind closed doors is important. Kids need to be protected. Compassion and understanding go a long way in helping all those involved. Love your passion.

Patricia Singleton said...

Plain Talk and Ordinary Wisdom, Thank you. Know that I am glad you are back in the world of blogging. You were missed. Awareness is so important to stopping child abuse.

Anonymous said...

Straight truth. Great post.

Patricia Singleton said...

Anonymous, Thank you.

c said...

This is real for many kids. If you suppose a kid is being misused, ask. Please ask. Not all kids will tell you the fact, but some will. They, like me, are just awaiting someone to health care enough to ask.

Patricia Singleton said...

C, thank you for your comment. I was one of those children who needed someone to ask. I was too afraid to go to anybody to tell but I believe that if someone had asked me if I was being abused, I would have told them yes.

Spiritual Healer said...

Yes we should report about it immediately and apart from that we should look to start awareness programs among children also.It will help them to tell us if someone try to abuse them.

aspiritofhealingsings said...

Dear Patricia thanks for this passionate appeal ~ it seems to be more important than ever!

Patricia Singleton said...

A Spirit of Healing Sings, you are very welcome. It is encouraging to see so many survivors starting to speak out about child abuse and to tell their stories. Society cannot continue to be blind to the abuse of our children.

Patricia Singleton said...

Spiritual Healer, thank you for your comment. I somehow overlooked it until a few minutes ago.

We do need to educate our children as well as parents and anybody else that cares about the welfare of our children. As a society, we do not do enough to protect our children from childhood sexual abuse.