April: A time for awareness
It’s
hard for most people to imagine a person intentionally harming a child.
Our instincts tell us to protect children, not exploit their vulnerabilities.
Yet we know that the sexual abuse of children happens with alarming frequency
in our society. According to one estimate, one in five girls under 18,
and one in seven boys have been sexually abused. That means 40 million
adults in the United States are living with an experience the rest of
us don’t even want to imagine.
Despite the public failings of a number of Catholic clergy in the past,
it is wrong to think of this as a problem isolated to our Church. Sexual
abuse of children takes place in youth sports organizations, public and
private schools, and churches and houses of worship of every kind. Experts
and anecdotal evidence tell us that one of the leading settings in which
the sexual abuse of children takes place, though it remains underreported,
is the family.
No matter where abuse takes place, however, the Church is working to ensure
that the incidences and potential opportunities for it to occur are greatly
reduced.
During the month of April, the Archdiocese is striving to make children
and young people more aware of their risk for abuse by distributing age-appropriate
lesson plans, posters and contact resources in our schools.
In addition, since 2003, every priest, deacon, religious, lay employee
or volunteer who in any way works with children in a Catholic setting
has had to clear a background check and undergo a training program. In
the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 53,000 adults have already been screened
and trained; across dioceses in the United States, the number stands at
more than 1.8 million.
Safe environment training equips adults to spot the ways child molesters
violate a child’s boundaries.
Keeping the following in mind can help adults keep kids safer:
Learn the signs of grooming behaviors, or ways that child predators may
attempt to lure children. Recognizing these signs can help prevent abuse
before it starts.
Be observant. Notice subtle changes in a child’s behavior or attitude
that might indicate he or she is being abused.
Make it easier for children to speak up. Reinforce their understanding
that talking about abuse is not a betrayal. Be willing to listen.
Get involved in your parish. Doing so can widen the network of adults
trained in safe environment, and make the activities in which your child
participates safer.
While acknowledging the failures of the past, the Archdiocese today is
working not only to better protect children, but to create a safer society
for us all.