Abuse From People Children Know

Parents don’t often think their friends or relatives could present any danger I would like parents to think about how they can/should assess their circle of friends when it comes to their children.

Statistics show that the majority of sexual molestation comes from people the family knows. Not a pretty thought but it’s true.

I have a friend of nearly 25 years who was widowed and after a few years began dating a man who I thought was funny, intelligent, witty, and they were obviously in love. They made plans to marry and go forward. One day my friend got a call at work from "Joe" that he had been arrested and could she come down to the jail. In shock, she left work and went to the jail; after she found out what the charges were she was nearly comatose. How could this be happening? Long story short, he had molested the neighborhood children, had a history of molesting his nieces and had also molested my friend’s granddaughters, and all were reluctant to tell.

Why didn’t they tell? guilt, shame, blame, fear? Who knows, but children have to be reassured that when that happens it’s not their fault and they should tell. Children’s having healthy boundaries goes a long way to heading off abuse and the quick discovery of it should it happen.

People don’t wear signs telling us what they are, so if someone acts improperly with your child it’s important that he/she knows that they should tell you immediately.

If you’d like to order the book Boundaries and receive the free pamphlet I’ve written "The A to Zs of teaching young children" please go to www.ladaps.net and click on Boundaries.

It’s important to answer any questions he/she might have and not be shy when talking about body parts – we all have them so it’s not something that should come across as embarrassing because then your child will be reluctant to bring up the subject of inappropriate touching or fondling.