“Who Can They Tell?”: Community Urged to Protect Vulnerable Children

The “Go Blue” Child Abuse Awareness activities continue through the month of April. If you drive through the square in Ava you should see the posters featuring the words, “Safe Kids Bloom” with the brightly colored flower blossoms painted on them, there should be a banner, some blue lights, and several pinwheels spinning away. All this is an effort to bring awareness to the problem of child abuse.

One of the goals of the Child Abuse Awareness Committee is to help abused children know that abuse is not okay and there are people who want to help. Children should feel safe telling their parents, their teachers, counselors at school, and police officers about the abuse. It is the responsibility of our community to make it possible for a child to get help when they need it.    

Parents are usually the first line of defense for a child. Parents should not trust just anyone with the care of their young children. Be watchful for any signs of abuse. Parents can warn their children away from “talking to strangers,” from trusting someone they don’t know on social media, that no one has a right to touch them inappropriately, etc. Children need to be able to talk with their parents about anything and everything. 

But too often we hear of sexual or other abuse coming from within the family and places in the community where they should be safe. Who can they tell when someone they trust abuses that trust? If they tell, they may not be believed. What do they do when their parents are so much under the influence of a mind-altering drug that they forget to feed them? Who can she tell when she has been secretly abused by someone in the family? If she tells, she may be accused of lying or causing the abuse. Who can they tell, when the abuser is their mother or father, an uncle, a teacher, or a trusted babysitter.

If you suspect something but do not know for sure that abuse is occurring, call the hot line anyway. You do not have to prove anything to make that call. Let the people who are trained investigators do that work. Let’s make our community a safe place for kids to bloom.