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ADVOCACY

• ADVOCACY AND COMMUNITY ACTION

• COMMUNITY-BASED PREVENTION

• A MORE COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH

 ADVOCACY AND COMMUNITY ACTION

We ask children to tell us what is happening to them.

Do we listen?

What if a child in a grocery store whispers to us, "This man won't let me see my mommy."

What do we say? How do we start? Do we dismiss it as the active imagination of a playful child?

Even if we respond to the child, the adult may dismiss our concern saying "Oh, she's always saying things like that to get attention."

Do we walk away? Do we report it? Do we tag along to get the license number of their car?

How often do we remain silent, wishing not to interfere, afraid we will falsely accuse someone. How does fear of the consequences of our intrusion stop us?

There are no simple answers, but the impact of courageous intervention is unmistakable in the following story.

There was a woman sitting at the back of a commercial plane who repeatedly slapped her five year old for crying. The passengers were unavoidably aware of the situation. After about thirty minutes, a lady a few rows forward stood up, turned around and said "If you touch her again, I'll come and take her away from you." Everyone broke out into applause and the child was not touched again during the flight.

While this child may have been beaten more severely later because of the embarrassment to her mother, the undeniable fact remains that the child discovered that the world is not silent in the face of her abuse. This example is significant because the universal comment of abused children is "I couldn't understand why no one said or did anything. I thought grownups just didn't care." This child now knows that there are people in the world who do care and who will help her. That, in and of itself, will make it easier for her to ask for help in the future.

I admit it can be very hard to find the courage to speak up so forthrightly, but each of us must do what we can do to support children, to report what's done to them.

The law protects people who report suspected child abuse and neglect. You have the right to remain anonymous and you cannot be sued or found liable for damages unless it can be proven that you were malicious and deliberate in filing a false report.

We are teaching children to take care of themselves when they're by themselves. At the same time, children need our care too. If each of us were an advocate for each of the children in our lives, those we know and those we don't, the abuse of children would significantly diminish. This is not simple or easy. It is, however, a process, a beginning, by which we can reduce the isolation and victimization of children.

When we speak up for children they learn to speak up for themselves. That is the challenge.

"Failure to prevent child abuse and neglect in America is costing taxpayers billions of dollars each year in measures associated with remediating delinquent and criminal behavior, urban unrest, drug abuse, severe mental illness and family dysfunction." U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1990

 A MORE COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH

Child abuse is a problem which is carried from generation to generation. Any truly comprehensive effort to interrupt the cycle of child abuse must address the needs of children at three different levels.

• All children need to receive basic prevention of child abuse training.
• Some children are at higher risk of abuse than others. These children need a more comprehensive approach including not only prevention training but also development of fundamental life skills which will enable them to be more effective and competent.
• Children who have been victimized need specific intervention and training which will enable them to prevent further abuse, to prevent them becoming abusers themselves and which will help to prevent the secondary effects of abuse.

To this end, the Coalition for Children has developed a series of materials to address all these levels of need. A model for community-wide implementation of these programs has been developed and fully implemented in a number of communities. For those interested in addressing prevention of child abuse in a more comprehensive way, please contact the Coalition for Children.

"Adult violence against children leads to childhood terror, childhood terror leads to teenage anger, and teenage anger too often leads to adult rage, both destructive towards others and self-destructive: and, therefore, an effective and adequately funded child maltreatment prevention program must be a the heart of any national, State or local crime prevention program." U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1990

Copyright © 1996 -2008 Coalition for Children, Inc., Sherryll Kraizer, Ph.D.