Last week we went through Virtus training which focused on child sexual abuse. The program gave good information such as the warning signs of a child that's been (being) abused, most abuse comes from people that the victim knows, and Sister Harriet told us that we should call the hotline before calling the police if we suspect that a child is being abused because our identity will be protected when we call the hotline. It's crazy to think that anybody would do this to children especially in schools, churches, and camps.
Lately there have been many reports of child sex abuse, the two big ones being the Penn State University scandle and the Syracuse University scandal both involving assistant coaches in their athletic programs. I feel like these thing should never happen, and that these guys were just dumb to do such things when they're in the public spotlight and are looked up to by so many. These stories should have been reported and told sooner, not many years after the event(s). Even though Joe Paterno, former head football coach at Penn State, wasn't a mandated reporter he should have still told authorities about what he knew was going on. It's the morally correct thing to do. No matter who the abuser is, they need to be punished for their actions. I believe that the schools did the right thing by firing the people that were responsible for not reporting the inccidents. There should be policies for these sorts of things and they should be followed.
Reports of abuse should be taken seriously. When children tell somebody that they've been abused, 95% of the time it is true. Recognizing, preventing, and appropriately reporting child sexual abuse is important. Parents should tell their children how to be safe and stay safe.
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