Teaching children about sexual abuse

Currently, a law exists that requires all convicted child molesters to register online in their state of residency. The registration website is used as a tracking device for the government, as well as an information source to inform parents of dangerous predators in their neighborhood. The website is in association with Megan’s Law. This information can be accessed on the internet by anybody interested in the danger of predators in their area. This website is a wonderful resource for the general public, but what about the children who are living in the homes of the predators who have yet to be convicted? They have no protection until physical damage is seen by an outsider and the damage has already been done physically and psychologically. Children are by nature very trusting and kind. If they don’t know any better than to be abused, how will they ever know that they are in danger? Children need to be taught to be aware of abuse and to know they do not deserve to be treated in that manner. Teaching children in school about sexual abuse is a good way to help them to identify what sexual abuse is and some of the characteristics of an abuser.

What drives somebody to become a child molester? Humans develop epigenetically, which means that “one stage builds upon the previous one” (Bradshaw, 1988, p.146). Many of the offenders today have issues going back to their youth that encourage them to engage in these acts of violence. Many were abused as children which encourages them to continue to perform these acts of repulsion. One situation in their life to could be the source of these psychological issues. Being bullied or forced into some kind of abuse can easily change the thought process of a future offender. Children are in need of many emotions that if given improperly will affect them for the rest of their lives. Children need love and affection in order to feel a connection with the adults that they bond with from birth and in order to gain the self-worth they need to be successful and break the abuse chain. By teaching them in public education from a young age to know of their worth and how they should be treated, hopefully they will understand and possibly prevent being abused and later becoming abusers.

Children suffer so much when victimized by forms of abuse. Some victims suffer depression, poor self esteem, drug abuse, anxiety, fear, aggressiveness, withdrawal, suicide attempts, or become developmentally impaired (Kittleson, 2005, p.181). Once any of these begin in childhood, it only gets worse as it continues into adolescence and adulthood. Many times, the ones who have been abused become abusive in relationships later in their lives. These examples are the kinds of issues that are becoming far too common and action needs to be taken to help prevent as much of this as possible. There needs to be more public education to raise abuse awareness.

“There therefore needs to be more public education to raise awareness that most sexual abuse is perpetrated by someone known to the child” (K. Fitch, 2006). In many cases, parents are looked over as being the abuser because the child is threatened to keep quiet and the parent acts differently with the child in public. “Nearly 1 million children are victims of maltreatment every year and an estimated 1.5 million women and 835,000 men are physically or sexually assaulted by a current or former partner or date” (p.186). Millions of people are abused without being recorded. “Researchers believe that maltreatment of children- including child abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect- and intimate partner violence is far more prevalent than these statistics show” (Kittleson, 2005, p.186). Abuse is more likely to begin in the home with parents because it is so much easier for a parent to be close to the child. It is also said that the abuse of a spouse often will follow with the abuse of the children or vice versa. “The parenting role may, at times, include deep sensory experiences involving the sharing of touch and closeness between parent and child which may cross over into sexual feelings” (Mason, Skolnick, Sugarman, 2003, p.266). This is commonly how the abuse begins because it starts out with just a loving parent that goes too far. One way to convince a child that it is their fault is by telling them they are the reason that the act happened in the first place. When an adult has developed a trusting relationship with the child, the child often becomes confused about right and wrong.

How can we protect our children? The Megan’s Law website includes only a small amount of predators, which excludes many that should be on there. The ones that are not included are the biggest threat to children because they are usually the parent or close relative. Children need to be educated about abuse and taught ways they can get help if they are ever in that position.

Many parents are opposed to teaching these kinds of things to their children in school because of the worry that the children will become scared in their innocent state. The parents that are often opposed are either overprotective or don’t want their child to turn them in for being abusive because of what is taught. Either way, children have the right to be protected from harm. “This view, however, can be a real obstacle to helping children make the transition to non-exploitative adult sexuality” (Whatley, Trudell,1989, p. 181). Preventing a child from being aware could potentially create even more problems when that child reaches adolescence and adulthood. Because a license is not required for people to have children and anybody can reproduce, school is sometimes the only place for them to learn socially acceptable interactions. There are ways to teach children about subjects like Megan’s law and sexual predators without scaring them. They don’t need to know everything; just enough to know that there are parts of their bodies that should not be touched. If children could be taught this and of their worth, I believe that teenage pregnancy rates, rape, and suicide would go down. It is possible that a drastic change wouldn’t be the result of teaching children about sexual abuse in school, but at least some would be saved from a life of misery.

The website that has been created to supposedly prevent future occurrences of child abuse has been said to be somewhat ineffective. When it was first created, more people used it, but the rates of children being abused continued to increase. If it is not effective, why aren’t other efforts being taken to help the problem at hand? The organization of Megan’s law is funded by the government and requires employees to manage the site and the lists of offenders. Their work seems to be minimally significant due to the low success rate of preventing future abuse.

The National Institute of Justice says that regardless of the support that is given to these laws, there is not evidence that they are effectively reducing sex-offenders (DeMarco, 2009). This law and website lack evidence but the cost is still high to run it. It is said to cost nearly $4 million a year to make the public aware of the offenders living in their communities. Last year, Governor Schwarzenegger passed a loan of 5 million dollars to the efforts of tracking down predators that have violated parole. This money was meant to find ways to keep track of these people. If we spent that money toward educating children, we might see a beneficial change in the amount of sex offenders.

“33,000 of 76,000 sexually violent offenders required to register under Megan’s Law in California are missing from the system. More than 40 percent of those required to register have slipped between the cracks, their whereabouts unknown” (Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, 2009). This shows that somebody cannot count on the website to tell them all of the predators in their community. Statistics show that it is easy for sexual predators to slip through the cracks of the system, causing trouble for law enforcement as well as innocent families. “One of the ways that sexual predators slip through the system is by relocating often so that the law enforcement agencies assigned to track them are unable to do so. The lack of law enforcement manpower and the resourcefulness of the sexual predator is another way that they avoid registration” (Corr. Officer Terry Barrett, personal communication, 2009). If children are taught from the beginning how to protect themselves, they can be the ones to prevent being hurt by a family member or community offender.

Many authors of books relating to sexual abuse have said that taking action in education is needed in order to change the statistics of sexual abuse. It is also suggested on multiple occasions to put the government money into organizations that will benefit the child. Programs have been cut completely that could benefit this cause, such as the “California Safe from the Start” program. Due to this major cut, children are being short changed regarding their safety. This program was intended to help children affected by violence. Organizations that promote positive direction are in great need at this time. Programs like this one would protect children as much as they can. It is so important for children to be looked after and cared for by the community when their parents are not doing the job. When asking college aged peers if they have heard of Megan’s law, the response was far too often no. What is the point of funding an organization that is not even promoted among people who could easily be in danger? There isn’t a point. Those who have the power to make a change to the system are in authoritative positions in government. With budget cuts, funding is minimal and often non-existent.

Teachers at school are meant to educate on subjects that will benefit a profession or job later in life and often have no other choice than to instruct children on matters that should be taught in the home. In this fast paced, busy world, parents are neglecting to teach vital lessons to their children. This is unfair to the teachers, but at least these children are getting a little bit of instruction somewhere. Educators shouldn’t have to do all of the work, but if they could sacrifice a little bit of their time in order to educate on abuse, many will benefit.

The Megan’s Law website allows the public to look up offenders in multiple ways, such as name, address, or zip code in California. This is great for parents who are responsible and teach their children already to be aware, but the majority of children that get into these situations are not blessed with good parents to teach them. It was not until 1995 when the public had access to the information of where these offenders lived (E.G. Brown Jr., 2009). This website is meant to let the community know where these sex offenders are located, which is a great tool for the community. The offenders who are on the site are only the ones that have been caught for their acts and most have been serial offenders. Putting these people on the site publicly is meant to benefit communities and raise the awareness of parents of registered offenders who should not be trusted with their children. The chance that a child is sexually abused by a close relative is far more likely to happen than being abused by somebody on this list. It is better to take action that will be preventive, rather than to use negative information involving a small amount of the offenders in the country. This website is not enough.

Teaching awareness of sexual predators to children will benefit future generations and stop some of the cycle that is snowballing into a corrupt society. “Rather than merely helping children learn to resist, true prevention would mean educating individuals so that they never abuse” (Whatley, Trudell, 1989, p. 180). The cycle will continue if children are not taught to break it. “True prevention programs would involve the recognition that people who rape are responsible for its prevention.” Teaching the children that they are the ones to make the change in their life to stop any abuse or prevent it, will help future abuse rates. Having a professional come into the classroom could be a favorable alternative to a teacher taking on that responsibility. Focusing on the negative consequences could scare the child. It would be beneficial to concentrate more on the warning and education rather than the effects.

In conclusion, when time is taken to teach children about sexual abuse and the characteristics of an abuser, the probability of a child being abused is decreased. Megan’s Law cannot stand on its own. An effort to encourage teachers to instruct children how to protect themselves and seek help, if needed, will benefit communities everywhere. This is how I propose we stop rapid growth of children being abused sexually.