When you’re unpacking your belongings at college, it’s the crossroads of a lot of things. Adolescence and adulthood begin to blur together and you start to follow your own path.
Part of this process in growing up, is taking ownership in yourself, your school, and your community.
When you’re coming out of high school, sexual abuse of any nature can feel like a taboo topic that we aren’t quite old enough to acknowledge. But that’s the point. Once we become members of our community, we become obligated to take a stance in protecting our children.
These are the twins down the street you babysat since they were two. This is the team of 6th grade girls you helped coach during the spring soccer season each year. These are the kids you spent your summers with as a role model working at the summer camp you once attended.
And of these children, 1 in 10 are sexually abused.
They are stripped of their innocence by people with the same roles as you and me. The family member, the babysitter, the coach — these are the all too familiar faces of child sexual abusers.
The thought of anything happening to the children you know IS heart wrenching, especially when you have the ability to prevent it.
Luckily this epidemic doesn’t have to continue. By educating our friends, our neighbors, and ultimately our communities, those of us who might still feel like kids can protect those familiar happy faces we’ve watched grow up.
Dakota Isaacs is a communication major at the College of Charleston.
For more information on preventing child sexual abuse in your community, visit The 5 Steps to Protecting Our ChildrenTM, or take D2L’s award-winning Stewards of Children® prevention training.
