Over at the Friends in tech blog, George was kind enough to create a parent education flier, pointing out some of the various resources where parents can learn more about keeping kids safe on-line. There’s a nice downloadable PDF, suitable for printing and sharing with parents or other groups working to help kids learn to use this vast resource we call the Internet, safely.
Pin Last night I had the opportunity to attend an event on the campus of LSU and hear Aly Raisman, Olympic gold medalist, and sexual abuse survivor, share her story with students. I wanted to recap some of what she had to say as a survivor in the spotlight, both because of her athletic fame, but…
Pin No matter what our leaders want to include or exclude from the official histories, we know these events happened. We may not be successful in getting large-scale claims of abuse into the history books of the future, though we should try, but we can all continue to talk about them. The mainstream may want us to be quiet about the abuse that happens within the family, the church, etc., but we can tell our stories. We have voices, our own online spaces, connections, and the freedom to speak.
Most of all, we can support the people telling those stories. They are preserving our history and reminding all of us that the survivors are out here, we know what was done, and we will not accept the lies. We can ensure the truth is out there for those who want to learn and do everything we can to ensure that history is shared.Â
It seems that the young girl I talked about in the last post has returned home safely. As Steven says: “Now she, her family and friends start the real work of trying to put their relationships back together.” Best of luck to them!
Pin I’ve said before that given the statistics about child sexual abuse, there’s almost no way you don’t know someone who has been abused. Over the last few weeks it may seem like we are being inundated with news stories and accusations about famous, and not so famous, people who have been sexually harassing, assaulting and…
Don’t forget, tomorrow is Stamp-out Hunger day here in the US. If you leave out non-perishable food items, the local letter carrier in more than 10,000 cities and towns will collect them for your local food banks. Read the link for more info.
Pin So, when I look at a highly successful program like US gymnastics, like Penn State football, like USA Swimming, like English Youth Football, etc. I think we can clearly see this. Why be such a downer, don’t you see how much good this program, and the people in it, are doing? It’s probably nothing, just some misunderstanding by over-imaginative kids. Nothing to worry about, look at the success we are having in the field, gym, or water. That’s what this is all about. That’s the important thing. The rest of this will pass.
Except in the case of US Gymnastics, these ladies, and dozens of others, have not simply let it pass. They have remained steadfast in talking about it, making sure they can do everything they can to make sure it doesn’t happen to the next generation and reminding all of us that winning at all costs, is not worth the damage that is done to children who are sexually abused.
They are truly resilient, like many of us who have survived sexual abuse, and gone on to talk about it, share our own stories, and live our adult lives. But never confuse that resiliency with how hard it really is to do. Never look at a survivor who has appeared to overcome their abuse, and assume that it’s ok to diminish what happened to them. It’s never easy, and for each one who might appear to have overcome, I’ll show you 5 who are still struggling every single day. You’ll find many of them in prison, or mental health care centers. Still dealing with the aftermath of their childhood trauma without access to the same support and resources that we lucky few have had the privilege to have. Yet they are all human beings, and they were all children once, children who had to suffer at the hands of adults who were more interested in their own pleasures, comfort, and place in their society than they were to consider the damage being done to these children.
Don’t be one of those adults. There are many ways to abuse a child. Larry Nassar did and is paying for his crimes, finally. But there were a whole lot of other adults who abused these girls, by not taking it seriously, not investigating, and not caring enough about them as human beings to protect them. Make no mistake about that.
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Cool! Thanks for sharing this with everyone.
Thanks for sharing the info, Mike. I’m all for sound advice for keeping kids safe. I participated in a KidPower program with my son last year, and I was appauled at the stats on on-line predators out there. My son doesn’t go online without my direct supervision, but there will be a time when he does. I’ll be checking out those sites!