Hi everyone,
Its been too long since my last post, but I don't like to blabber on unless I feel I really have something to share. Couple that with a nasty winter cold and until the bulletin I've listed below came through my email I didn't have much that I felt strong enough about to share.
There has been a disturbing number of cases highlighted in the news lately about minors who have been caught sexually assaulting, abusing and sometimes killing other children. I shared such a story with you a couple of posts ago. Now the Office of Juvenile Justice has come out with its latest bulletin. I could ramble on about it, but instead I'm adding the link to it here so that you can read it yourself. I will share this equally disturbing fact from the report though. More than 1/3rd of reported child sexual abuse cases are cases where a minor has sexually molested another minor. For the rest of the story read on.
"Juveniles Who Commit Sex Offenses Against Minors" (NCJ 227763) is available online at www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/publications/PubAbstract.asp?pubi=249770.
What this means to parents is that we can no longer allow our children to assume that all other kids are safe. The only bad guys out there are not adults. Another fact that poses the question of what is happening in our society that creates juvenile child molesters is this one also noted in the same OJJDP report: "Juveniles who commit sex offenses against other children are more likely than adult sex offenders to offend in groups, at schools, and to have more male and younger victims."
Here again is even more data proving that we have to arm our children with all of the skills and information we can give them to know how to respond with faced with a potentially threatening situation when loving adults are not around for them to look to and for help in making that decision.
There are a few, fortunately very few, but a few individuals out there who say that kids can't remember what they have been taught when faced with a dangerous scenario. The stories we get back from clients who are educating the children and families they are responsible for say otherwise. All to often even young children are not given enough credit for their ability to retain information if they are given it in a repetitive and on-going formulation of lessons. I can't think of a better gift to give a child or teen this year that the knowledge of how to stay safe in a very unsafe world.
I believe that those who view these blog posts already understand these facts, but it never hurts to repeat them, and remind everyone, that we can make a difference in the lives of the children we work with, if we understand that they are smarter, more resilient and retain information better than any generation that has gone on before them. So please review our curriculum at the link provided for safenetwork.org, including our parent help materials and other programs, and begin, or continue with a new dedication the education and empowerment of children and teens so they can be prepared to face the predators, pedophiles and other deviants out there. On the main page of our website the Quick Links have a link entitled SHOP. Click on that and it will take you to the pages that show our materials and lead you to pages that explain what is in them.
If I don't get the chance to post again before Christmas and the other holidays that fall this time of year, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christ, Happy Holiday and Wonderful New Year. And please, stay safe people.
Susan Rogers
Director
Safety Awareness & Family Education Network, Inc.
[S.A.F.E. Network, Inc.]
1800.643.3310
http://www.safenetwork.org
sue@safenetwork.org
