AWARENESS - What Can You Do?

BE AWARE OF WHAT'S GOING ON WITH YOUR CHILDREN, AND IN YOUR COMMUNITY.

Stop Child Abuse and Abductions.

A program designed to go further and in more depth, more participation, more action, and more education than our Neighborhood Watch Programs. This is not to say that the Neighborhood Watch Programs are not an effective and well thought out program to protect our neighborhoods and our children, but this program is intended to put more fuel on the fire of the defense of our children, and to solicit greater numbers of participants and hopefully to spread throughout our local communities, and throughout the world.

  The unique structure of this program is defined in summary format in the following paragraphs.

   1. Get involved in the local Neighborhood Watch Programs and learn the ins and outs, goals and strategies as well as number of participants, areas participating and also those not participating in the Neighborhood Watch programs. Campaign in neighborhoods without an established Neighborhood Watch Program first to get our entire city and county involved.

Introduce this program to the Neighborhood Watch committee for review and approval. If not approved, then operate as a separate program, but continue to try to merge the two programs, and of course this program will not interfere or try to take the place of the Neighborhood Watch Programs.

   2. Bring Churches of all denominations together in this effort to protect our children, and our elderly, disabled or any individual who cannot protect themselves. I believe that the Church should be the center of the community, and the foundation on which we base our lives.

   3. This is one of the most critical aspects of the program; PREVENTION. How can we prevent perpetrators from doing that first act of violence, child abuse, etc.? According to the King James Version of the bible when a man commits a crime for the first time, he (or she) has accepted in his or her own mind that this act is justified for what ever reason, and then the next act becomes easier, until the individual becomes reprobate in his or her mind. This means basically that he or she has developed a sense of numbness that prevents them from feeling any remorse or guilt in their hearts or minds and so at this point, the perpetrator has no conscience, nothing telling them that what they are doing is wrong. They basically have not guilt or shame for their sins or crimes. How many times do we see this?

  I would like to compare this to cigarette smoking, or drinking alcohol. Once you smoke that first cigarette, or drink that first beer, many people become hooked for life. And there are those with the propensity of becoming hooked on cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs for that matter. And there are those as well who have the propensity to become pedophiles, rapists, murderers, and so on.

   I have asked myself many times, what can we do to prevent potential candidates to become perpetrators of violent crimes from taking that first step? ; from committing that first act of sexual assault, or from using physical force to cause harm to others who are weaker than they are?

  I don’t know all the answers, but my first guess would be educating kids at a young age not only to report to and adult if they have been violated in any way, but also the seriousness of committing sexual assaults or any crimes, especially crimes of violence.

  Drill into their heads the seriousness of touching someone else inappropriately and how it will affect the victim adversely for the rest of their lives. Let me tell you, I strongly disagree with our judicial system’s view, along with the view of Psychiatric society and society in general as to the understanding a younger person has in relation to an adult regarding the seriousness and permanence of violent acts. I strongly believe that a child who is has just entered puberty, a 12 to 13 year old, would not understand the seriousness of rape as an example. I sincerely believe that in most cases they would not view this as a crime, or something that would affect the victim for life.

   I also believe that a teenager 12 to 17 or 18 years of age is still in a developmental stage in their brains that would convince them of the same. What I mean by this, when a 13 to 18 year old looks at the world, they see themselves as invincible, they don’t see the danger that a 25 year old would see. And what happens in many cases, a younger teenager, depending on their level of mental aptitude and maturity may or may not have a true understanding that if they commit a sexual crime, that it will be with them forever.

   Being vulnerable, naïve and just plain ignorant can be the triggering mechanism of one’s first act of violence. Once this occurs, they learn real quick the seriousness of what they have done and they are pleading in their minds with God, for instance, to let them understand that which they didn’t know, and that they will never do this again if they would just let them go. But it’s too late.

   Depending on the circumstances, they are punished in one way or the other, and now they have a tarnished, permanent record with the police. And if they go to jail, anger builds out of frustrations and once they are released, depending on the individual and/or the circumstances, they may commit more crimes of the same type just for spite. Just to get revenge in some kind of warped sense of thinking. They were misunderstood! Then the cycle has really begun.

   Prevention Starts at the Root of the Problem!

No child ever deserves to me harmed in any way.
AWARENESS is the key to prevention! And has been the focus of this campaign from the start.
We have to have the frame of mind that child abuse can and will be stopped!
Get Involved!
GIVE OUR CHILDREN A VOICE!

I am the creator of the following Message Board on DR Phil's Sight:



"A Child's Voice Connection, Prevent Child Abuse; Abductions"

I have a mission in life, and the mission is to fight Child Abuse.

Please read the following post, and also visit my message board on DR Phil's called "A Child's Voice Connection."

To raise AWARENESS of the magnitude and reality of Child Abuse in our nation.

To empower our communities with clear and definitive strategies to identify, prevent and cope with Child Abuse and it's gravitational affects on families and communities.
To encourage, commission and solidify the communities to the necessity of their involvement in this campaign.
To define and identify the destructive forces of our social behaviors that may very well encourage child abuse.
To define a clear delineation of boundaries that are considered inappropriate, and provocative.
To demonstrate that concerted efforts among our communities can and will drastically reduce the dangers that lurk among us, and bring all the possible angles, prospectives and perpetrators to light.
To educate the public as to the destructive force and relentless erosion of Child Abuse and domestic violence.
A common goal, among common people to establish an unprecedented all out attack on the age old problem of child abuse.

Please feel free to visit my message board

http://www.drphil.com/messageboard/topic/999

More philosphies

I believe that there are many more cases like these than which we are aware. This brings to mind the message board on DR Phil's sight: "Is there a Predator in the House?"
I think one out of 3 homes has some kind of sexual predator, whether someone just trying to see someone unclothed, or just a seemingly slight touch here and there that might be questionable in the victim's mind, a rapist who preys on grown women, or child molesters.

Awareness is definitely the key to bringing these things to light. And many times we are too trusting of others and are in denial that someone close to us could possibly be a sexual predator.

I believe that in many cases that young teenage boys prey upon younger girls in the home, and many of these cases go unreported and unknown. It is a difficult situation when a child tells their mother that their brother, uncle, step-father, etc has touched them in an inappropriate manner. Many mothers or guardians may be afraid to address this issue for fear of tearing a family apart. But this is one are where we need to educate young people that when they do become parents, to always look for signs, and to warn their children not only to report inappropriate behavior, but also to warn them, in a tactful way that if they touched a child in an inappropriate manner that it would shatter their lives.

I have some detailed writings on this on my computer, I think, and I will try to locate this. If not, I will try to out together my perspectives on this issue, and post it as soon as I can. This is a real problem, and it is only part of the entire issue of child abuse.

One quick note. If a parent suspects that their child is being molested in any way, regardless of by whom, but lack sufficient evidence, first thing is to close all windows of opportunities for this to continue. Also watch for the child's behavior, and one critical thing to watch for is premature sexual awareness. If a child is aware of certain sexual behaviors, they tend to explore themselves, and do things a child would not normally do.