APRIL IS CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH!!!

Such a sad day for humanity when we choose to admit to our collective ineptitude by dedicating a whole month to 'Child Abuse Prevention'. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t object to the fact that we have dedicated a period in time to bring issues of 'Child Abuse' to our attention, but what I am saying is that the fact that abuses against children occur at all to even warrant the dedication of a whole month is sad.

According to Dr. Maria Montessori, ‘The Child is the Father of the Man’, why then are we abusing our ‘fathers’?  The Message  Bible tells us in Psalm 127 that ‘Children are God’s best gift and the fruit of the womb His generous legacy’, why then do we abuse them? Surely this is indicative of moral bankruptcy on our part.

I once read a comical piece that suggested that dinosaurs, as big as they were, had small heads which indicated that their brains were small and this lack of brain capacity showed up in their inability to preserve their offsprings from dangers which has eventually led to their extinction and I wonder if we aren’t being a bit like these dinosaurs?

Civilizations are judged by how well they are able to cater for the needs of its weakest citizens. These children are our weakest citizens who look up to us – parents, relatives, guardians, carers etc, for protection but what do we have? The very people who should be offering them the much needed succour have turned on them to exploit their weaknesses and abuse them.

The very homes that should be their cradles have become lairs harbouring predators from which they cannot easily escape. 

For us to effectively tackle’ Child Abuse’, you and I must first agree that ‘Child Abuse’ isn’t some funky thing that other people do to children, but what we do to our children everyday in our homes.

Abuse of children is more prevalent than we imagine and the starting point to its prevention is to understand the purpose of ‘The Child’. Abuse is imminent when purpose is misunderstood.

AUNTY MO.