| NAASCA Posters / Essays Celebrating April as National Child Abuse Awareness Month | |
| Child Abuse lives everywhere -- don't be afraid to talk about it | 11 of 30 .. |
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Child Abuse lives .. ...... in every community ...... in locker rooms and camps Only 7% of the kids who are sexually assaulted in America are accosted by complete strangers. 93% are abused by people the child knows, loves or trusts. Two thirds of this group are preyed upon by family members. The remaining third suffer at the hands of folks who the child is taught to respect and trust, and many fall into the category we'd likely call "caregivers." Babysitters, teachers, ministers, and charity (volunteer) workers are examples of this .. as are coaches and camp councilors. Recent stories about Penn State's football team abuses and those perpetrated for years by the Boy Scouts are but highlights of a serious problem .. the tip of the iceberg. The truth is they constitute only a couple of the thousands of such situations going on in every community, and mostly right under our noses. Millions of kids are encouraged every year to participate in sports and athletic or outdoor activities both at the schools they attend and during the summer at camps. Unfortunately, pedophiles select careers or volunteer for things that provide them with a constant stream of potential child-victims. They're very clever at grooming the youngster and the adult community that they are above reproach. The reputations they enjoy make it hard for us to believe they could possibly be molesting children. We frequently have a hard time accepting their guilt. Then, too, the very institutions they represent, whose mission is to train / educate / care for children, have been reluctant to report abuse, even decades after it has been discovered. Thousands and thousands of America's kids are trapped .. Please see: from LA Times: Boy Scouts - Inside the 'perversion files' |
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