Thursday, August 23, 2012

Keeping our Children Safe

According to the NIH, 

Nearly 44% of sexual assault victims in the United States are younger than 18 years.  
This is my biggest worry for my daughter.  She is 11 years old and going into 5th grade.  She is very trusting and more than anything, wants to have friends.  We have talked to her numerous times about keeping herself safe, who she can trust, how to stay with a friend.  Things still happen.

What can we do to keep our children safe?  We send them out in the world prepared, but we still have to worry about bullies.



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Jennifer Giroux is a wife and mom to 3 children, who couldn't be more different: one in special education, one in gifted education, and one who has yet to reveal his education.  She blogs about the things your mother told you to avoid discussing, specifically politics, religion, and how it relates to her family's journey in the world of special education.  You can read more at www.afineconundrum.blogspot.com

3 comments:

  1. This is one of the biggest things that worries me. I have one about the same age and it is really scary.

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  2. Same here, especially now that we are so close to school starting.

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  3. Despite the common perception, the overwhelming majority of sexual assaults on minors are committed not by a stranger leaping out of the bushes but by someone close to the child -- a relative, a family friend, or a coach, for example.
    I find the concept of "stranger danger" to be ultimately destructive to children and to society at large. It leaves children frightened of adults who mean them no harm and adults afraid to have anything to do with a child who is not their own in the event their actions are misconstrued.
    My husband and I volunteer at a program for homeless families and I recently found myself refusing to dress a female toddler while her mother was busy in another room on the grounds that I was the only female volunteer there and I didn't want to be accused of "doing something" to the child.
    Sad but true. We live in a time of mistrust and paranoia.

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