The number of crimes against children is growing at a very alarming rate. Reports of everything from child abduction, rape, or murder by strangers are filling up news reports alongside parents who abuse or even kill their own children. It seems like news reports are filling up with countless reports of everything from mothers who murder their own children (post-pardam depression), to incidents such as the Columbine tragedy. And then there's child abuse, child exploitation... the list of possibilities seems endless.
Perhaps the most common fear parents have is that someone is going to hurt their children. They try as they can to protect their children, telling them to never accept anything from strangers from rides to candy, or insisting upon any number of other rules. But, is that enough?
The startling reality is that children make easy victims. They have no control over their environments - they cannot pick their families, teachers, coaches, baby-sitters. If they run into a dangerous situation (a parent who abuses or exploits them, a teacher who molests them, a bully who pushes things too far, etc) it's not like they can pack up their bags and move to another part of the city or change schools, or chose a different set of parents. And when children do report abuse or molestation, they are often not believed by authority figures. The legal system set up to protect them quite often fails.
They key to solving this problem is knowledge - learning as much as you possibly can about the topic of protecting children, knowing the warning signs, and lastly, what to do if you suspect a child is being harmed. The National Center for Missing And Exploited Children - missingkids.org is a good place to start when arming yourself against child predators.
Here is a fairly simple list of things you can do to help prevent children from being harmed.
I also cannot stress enough how important it is to find out a little bit about the people your children come into contact with. Don't assume that just because someone is a schoolteacher, or otherwise in a position of authority that they are safe. While most people see the need to investigate (to a certain degree) a baby sitter, they often do not think about the rest of the people a child comes into contact with.
In 1998, an ex-boyscouts troupe leader was charged with several counts of child molestation and exploitation. When the facts about the man started getting out, investigators learned his reign of terror had lasted for nearly years. He had remained a trusted member of the community while at the same time manipulating, exploiting, and psychologically terrorizing young children. One teenaged boy in his troupe even killed his parents [mostly] because of the mind games this man played.
When looking into those people who come into contact with children, it's hard to tell what to look for. The best advice I can tell you would be to look at the whole picture (everything you can learn) and use your intuition. If something feels bad, even though there is no logical reason for that feeling - then, chances are there truly is something wrong.
Likewise, there aren't any certain warning signs that a child has become a victim. However, here are a few things you can look for.
As I said above there are no clear signs a child has been abused, molested, or has otherwise fallen victim to predators. However, the simplest thing you can do is just talking with the kids. And, not just about anything pertaining to keeping them safe, but also anything and everything possible. Becoming a child's best friend - you can't go wrong.
© 1997; Corky McGraw