So Many Paths....Untested

Once a glass is shattered to pieces, it cannot be reconstructed.Even if you painstakingly glue all the tiny broken shreds together the damage done would be obvious.

Childhood is that miraculous period of creativity when the character of the adult is formed. What children need is positive inputs. If this budding future is destroyed by child abuse, there is no hope of resurrection to its previous glory.

 There is no point in closing the stable gates, long after the horse has fled.

There is no better solution for Child Molestation than prevention.

If you are willing to give it a consideration, there are thousand and one ways to prevent child sexual abuse through enhanced awareness. Most options can be achieved through no very low cost. Yet sadly they remain unused, untested leaving the future of the nation to fall easy prey to abusers lurking around every nook and corner.

Children as we know are naïve and curious, and depend on adults.

Especially in Asian countries children are taught to obey and listen to elders with no questioning back. As I have mentioned earlier, there are loop holes that the molesters misuse to achieve their goals. Yet, can’t we use the same characteristics in our children to empower them with knowledge to defend themselves against the dark forces.

As children are bound to trust parents and relatives who are close caregivers than anyone else, why can’t we use this opportunity to teach the kids in an age appropriate way what dangers might be lurking outside for them and how to defend themselves? Of course it is challenging to speak about child abuse with a kid of your own, nothing like telling them a bed time story.

 But wouldn’t that challenge be worth it than suffering and letting the kid suffer, if one day unfortunately it is too late?

When children step out of their homes, they enter the preschool or school which would be another one of their comfortable zones. Understanding and caring teachers might detect warning signs of a child about to fall prey for an abuser, where parental inadequacy or unavailability had caused to miss the evidence at home completely. Even when there are strong and adequate family relationships, some kids might open up to a teacher more. Why cannot we educate the kids properly at school about sexual education instead of the joke which we do at present?

Do we have teachers educated and trained to detect pre-warning signs of sexual abuse and take necessary actions?

• Though we are living in the 21^st century, still there are rural areas where children are forced in to marriage and child bearing in their childhood. What measures have been taken to reduce these incidents?

• Cyber space is increasingly becoming a heaven for child molesters. Are we educated enough about prevention of child abuse associated with such advance technology?

Just Some Points to Ponder...................................