Protecting our Children
August 15, 2004
Dear Friends,
This week’s subject is not one that is spoken about openly or very often in polite conversation. We are talking about child sexual abuse. Most of us don’t like to think about it, much less talk about it. Yet, as we have seen in the news coverage of the molestation problems in the Catholic Church, sometimes these hidden problems are bigger than one might suspect.
The fact is that you probably know someone who was sexually abused as a child or a child who is currently being sexually abused. Amazingly, studies show that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are victims of sexual abuse before age 18. If you know twenty children, then statistically speaking, four of them have been sexually abused in some way. As a parent and as a Sunday School teacher, these statistics are mind boggling and very disturbing. Lest you think this is limited to the kind of people who appear on the Jerry Springer show, let me tell you that it is not. The reason that I am writing about this subject is that I have come into contact with at least a half a dozen victims in the last year or so. All of these people were victims of supposed “believers.”
Pedophiles are drawn to faith groups in much the same way that they are drawn to children’s athletic leagues and school groups. In those groups, they find children who are taught to obey and are trusting of those in authority. They also find in those groups time when they can be alone and unsupervised with children. In short, the sanctuary from all of the world’s problems we hope to create in the ecclesia may be an ideal environment for a pedophile to operate if we are naive to the threat.
The following bullets come from the www.ProtectKids.com web site. Here are some things you should know:
* 34% of child sexual abuse cases are perpetrated by family members
A further 59% of cases are perpetrated by people who are known and trusted by the family
* A significant number of child sexual abuse cases are perpetrated by older or larger children and teenagers
People who abuse children look and act just like everyone else. In fact many go out of their way to appear trustworthy to gain access to vulnerable children.
*Those who sexually abuse children often work to create a trusting relationship with the parents of their victim.
Lord willing, in the next few weeks, we hope to examine how we can protect our children and what to do in cases where sexual abuse has occurred.
We do not wish to start a pedophile witch hunt per se, but we do want people to be educated to the fact that child sexual abuse can occur even in the confines of Christ’s ecclesia. If we deny the potential for its existence, we increase the likeliness of it occurring and play right into the hands of the perpetrators.
Have a great and safe week!
Kyle
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