I'm tired of sitting here while children are killed, raped and tortured every day, worldwide. Every day a Google search easily brings up more new cases in the news. There's no end to it. The slaughter of 20 children in Connecticut is the tipping point for me. We bitch and moan about our pain, addictions, messed up lives, sexual and relationship problems, while millions more children die or are scarred for life. My own teenage daughter just told me that last summer she was nearly raped and was too ashamed to tell me or her mother till now! Dammit, we're the grownups now, can't we do something? Its reported that there are 39 million adult CSA survivors in the U.S. If every one of us could save just one kid, just one...we could alter these statistics. Good could overcome evil for a change. I challenge every one of you to do something to save a child in your community. There has to be a way to end this. there has to be.....God help us if we don't even try. Go to Darkness to Light to find a way to help in your area.

• Worldwide, approximately 40 million children below the age of 15 are subjected to child abuse each year. (World Health Organization (WHO) 2001)
• Sexual abuse statistics vary between countries and reports, but are consistently alarming: Research indicates that up to 36% of girls and 29% of boys have suffered child sexual abuse; up to 46% girls and 20% boys have experienced sexual coercion.(The 57th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights)
• World Health Organization estimates that 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence during 2002. (WHO, 2004)
• Estimates from 2000 suggest that 5.7 million children were in forced or bonded labour, 1.8 million in prostitution and pornography, and 1.2 million were victims of trafficking as sex workers, a modern form of slavery. (International Labour Office, 2006)

Source: International Center For Assault Prevention

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"Can there be a sadder fact than this, that innocence is not a certain shield?" -- Robert G. Ingersoll


.... John

Okay...I put myself out there and did something. I'm not being self-righteous, bragging, or looking for "attaboys". But I want everyone to know that there ARE things you can do to save kids.

I'm going to take a course and further training from Darkness to Light (D2L.org) to become a Facilitator that can give training to teachers, coaches, Scouting Staff, and anyone else who works with children on: Facts about the problem of child sexual abuse. The types of situations in which child sexual abuse might occur. Strategies for protecting children from sexual abuse. The importance of talking about the prevention of sexual abuse with children and other adults. And the signs of sexual abuse so that people might intervene and be able to react responsibly.

This is going to cost me time and money, things I'm already short of. But if someone had been doing this when I was a kid, maybe my life wouldn't have been so fucked up for so long. Maybe I can save one kid from going through what happened to me. Maybe you can too. Think about it.

Jude