Child Abuse - What We Can Do
by Kathy Reynolds

You hear about it on the news, and it gets your attention, you put down your cup of coffee, riveted to the TV. They show a picture of a cute little kid and tell you of the abuse and torture she has suffered at the hands of a parent, relative, care giver or "friend of the family". You might shed a tear as the tale of this abused child is too much to think about.

Then you glance at your own kids and think, "If someone ever touched MY kids I would kill." 

Then the newscaster moves on to something else and you take a sip of your coffee and go on with your day. Throughout the day you keep remembering what you saw, and heard. But you say to yourself, "I wish there was something I could do to help, but I 
don't know how? "You thank God that there are laws and authorities are out there to protect those children. You might even wonder, "What is going on in the world today that so many children are being abused."

YES!! There are laws and authorities out there supposedly to protect children against child abuse. But the way it works is that the child has to be abused first, then the laws are supposed to punish the abusers and stop further abuse of the child. Sometimes it works, and some times the "authorities" further the abuse by returning the child to the abuser(s) 

THE WAY to stop child abuse, is with the involvement of all the people who touch the life of the child. From the Dr who delivers her to the parents, relatives, friends, neighbors, teachers, coaches, and the whole community we must be aware, and alert to the signs of abuse and we must; 

LISTEN!! Listen to the children tell of their day, alert to the signs that someone may be setting them up to be a victim. If your child says he is uncomfortable around someone, listen and never leave that person alone with your child.  It's okay to be overprotective of children when it comes to interacting with adults. Listen to the stories of the ones who are abused, and believe them. 

WATCH!! Watch the behavior of any adults that interact with our children. If an adult is being overly affectionate with the child, is constantly touching, theses are red flags that should alert you to watch more closely.

TRUST!! Trust your child's feelings and intuition. If she seems afraid of someone, even if you can't see what the fear is all about, trust it. Kids have an innate sense of those things. My rule is that if my dog or kids don't trust someone, I shouldn't either. 

Please, keep fighting for our children. Report any sign of child abuse you think you might see. It is inconvenient for an adult to be investigated for suspected child abuse that turns out to be unfounded, but it is horrendous for the child that is being abused to live in fear, pain and darkness because the adults around them fail to help them.