Our Voices Heard

Pete Dominici once said, ~Child abuse continues to be a significant problem in the United States. It was estimated that in 2001, 903,000 children were the victimes of child abuse or neglect. Child abuse is a crime perpetrated on the innocent and the defenseless.~ Thinking about it, its not too often that a particular topic gets me worked up, but when that topic is about child abuse I not only take it very seriously, but also take it personally as well. Why? Working with kids for the past decade, you see and hear countless stories of how kids are emotionally, physically, and even sexually abused that you can't help but feel separately or altogether at once emotions such as anger and disgust it makes you not only speechless, but also sick to your stomach just thinking about it.

Without a doubt, when a child is physically abused their spirit can be broken to the point where they are just a shell of their former self. They can be at times quiet to where they're emotionally and socially closed off depending on how long, as well as, the extent of the type of abuse in question. When or if that abuse turns sexual in nature it's not just they're spirit that is broken, its also their innocence is broken or should I say taken to the point that he or she may quite possibly be taken advantage of in a future relationship. It's a sad situation indeed when a child experiences abuse, whether it be emotional, physical, and/or sexual, that it leaves him or her with deep psychological and traumatic scars to deal with when one gets older.

Oftentimes, it's those same deep and psychological and traumatic scars a child experiences can be blocked out of his or her memory for years until something or someone triggers it bringing back to the surface all the emotions that were unfortunately repressed over time. Countless stories can be told of adults who were abused as kids not being able to hold a long lasting, stable relationship because the abuse that he or she suffered took all the love in one's heart and turned it into repressed anger, whereby making him or her become emotionally distant when getting closer to someone who one may be falling for. Essentially, the four key words to keep repeating to any abused child or an adult who was a child from an abusive home is, it's not your fault.

For those who know me, have gotten to know me, or just getting to know me, I tend to joke around about how "my kids" at work make me so crazy that I want to strangle or completely knock them out, but the fact of the matter is that I love them to death. You see, it takes a big person to hurt a child just because they make you angry, but it takes an even bigger person to walk away and let that anger be taken out on something else such as a punching bag. Let me tell you something, I'm pretty much an easy going kind of guy who jokes around and likes a good laugh, but have even a mere thought about harming any of "my kids" in any way, then you'll see a side of me that not even my closest friends have never seen or want to see and trust me when I say, it won't be anything to joke or laugh about.

About a week ago, I noticed marks on a child's arm to where I immediately brought it to the attention of my boss and in turn she brought it to the attention of the proper authorities. Though I can't talk about the specifics of that particular situation, I can say that the child is okay and an arrest was made. The one question I've been asked is do I feel like a hero and to be quite honest I don't because I was trained to do a job that involves keeping an observant eye on them to spot anything that may not be quite right. In any case, kids who go through abuse are usually scared to speak out because they think that nobody will listen to what they have to say. In the end, kids of abuse have a voice and collectively they're screaming out loud, we want our voices heard, but the question remains are you going to listen to their cries of help?