There are so many sad stories that you can’t get through a week without multiple jaw-dropping moments where children are being abused. In one 24 hour period a few years ago I remember reading about an online predator who tormented young girls online (leading beautiful Amanda Todd to end her life), a police officer who caged and tortured his son in his basement and a child being removed from a loving foster home of 9 years. That is all without making any effort to find those stories…and you could find a similar set of tragedies this month.
As I was thinking about how tragic it has become it dawned on me, part of the problem is ironically the volume. These tragic events are happening so often that before the public actually absorbs the horror they are exposed to another story. This leads to a couple of very bad outcomes – 1) no single story really gets dealt with before its “upstaged” by the next and 2) we become numb to be shocked by children’s safety being violated. The first story is very sad for the victims and justice while the second belies huge societal problems that we see manifesting itself around the globe.
Rather than belabour the obvious point I would have one “ask” for everyone who reads this post. Would you be willing to do one thing to support children’s safety in 2021? It could be as simple as asking a child you think might be at risk if they are OK, a call to your elected official, a donation to a non-profit that you believe in, attending a charity event, promoting the UN Convention on Children’s Rights or even writing an op-ed to your favourite paper.
If every single adult did just one thing in the next 3 months how much farther ahead might we be? That would be millions of actions! So please consider thinking about and doing just one thing in 2021.
Teagan's Voice 