your kids are not a lamp you can throw against a wall

As a victim of child abuse, I read this article and shook my head.
Is it true? Of course it is.
Is it horrible? Fucking right.

But so what? Really, the information contained in this article is nothing new. Just as very little contained in the 34 page report, which can be found here isn't that surprising either. I still recommend taking the time to read it, though. You might be surprised by the sick acts many governments and societies permit.

During most of the years that I was abused, I lived in a wealthy town. We moved there because my parents didn't want my sister growing up in a city. They wanted a more safe environment for her. Uh-huh. What good does a supposedly safe environment outside the door do for anybody if what's inside the door is this bad?

It pisses me off that people move to these towns and villages and small suburban cities as gestures of protection 'for the kids'. In an attempt to meld into the perfect middle class life everyone seems to want. And in doing so appear to buy into the idea of 'our community'.

When Emily and I told our teachers that we had been held captive and sexually assaulted on school grounds, they told us we were wrong. That such things don't happen in "our community" (and yes folks, that is an exact quote).


Since I have left, I have been regaled with stories from many people who experienced horrible horrible things while living in 'our community'. And none of us were heard or beleived or assisted. If I were to tell you some of those stories your head might fly around in disbeleif at how extreme some of these experiences were, and the lengths to which authorities would go to in order to effect satisfactory rejections of the truth.

I tell myself that that town simply suffers from an extreme case of denial. I tell myself that it is not like that elsewhere. But I know that it is. Because that's what it is to be a child. It is to be ignored, marginalised, belittled, suspected of deception. And that is the single reason I got up every day for all of those years, because I vowed that one day it would not be so and that I would be an impetus for change.

I have not yet succeded. But that does not mean that we should all not try to be vehicles of change, particularly change for the most vulnerable members of our society. I liked the quote in the article that children and youths should not be viewed as mini-humans with inferior rights, simply because they are more marginalised. We need, as a species to try at least, to make things better, to make voices heard. It is our responsability as adults, as the group with the power to make a difference, in 'our communities' and around the world.

If you have the ability, please consider volunteering with big brothers or big sisters, taking in a foster child, or working troubled youths through organizations like PLEA.

Thanks.