PARENTS: Better Safe Than Sorry, DO YOUR HOME WORK!

EVERYDAY I pick up the news paper. EVERYDAY-give or take one or two a week there is someone in the paper for Child Molestation!!! As a mother, a Christian, and a HUMAN BEING, I can't imagine what, why or how someone could take the innocence of our children and not see anything wrong with it. It is amazing. The people I know-(I know a lot of people), are always bringing this subject up as well. I was reading up on it, to try to understand it and although I CAN'T grasp it, I did learn a bunch. I found out that a child molester is most likely someone who knows our kids. A family member, a neighbor, and often at one point even our priests.
Although we can not stop it from happening, we can lessen the chances of it happening. If it did happen we can stop it from continuing.

1.  Do your homework. There are 47 sexually violent predators and a total of 53 people on Megan's law within a 25 mile radius from my home. I showed my daughter photos of the ones who lived within 2-3 miles, and explained if she sees them not to talk to them. I KNOW people change. But, these are our kids. I'm not taking any chances.
2. Do your homework. If your child shows the warning signs as listed below, talk to your child. You can easily say, "You are not in trouble, and have done nothing wrong. Did somebody touch you in your private areas in a way they shouldn't."
3. Do your homework. Check Megan's Law to keep you and your children aware of anyone who has harmed children in the past. They show photographs of the predator every six months at least.
4. Do your homework. Look for warning signs.

•  Extreme fear of someone shown by your child. Your child may not know that something wrong has happened, but they may lose interest in being around the predator, or show anxiety when they are mentioned.They may even break down emotionally or throw an unusual fit when they know they will be around the predator.
• Loss of interest in playing with friends, and doing activities that they normally love to do. They may even lose interest in school, refusing to attend.
• Shame: a child could suddenly become over obsessed with their body in either negative or positive ways. Normally, it's negative. They may even state that their body is hurt, bad, or not good anymore. 
• Unfortunately a child who has been hurt in this way is exposed to sex before they should be. So of course, they may talk about it, when you as the parent may not have brought it up yet. The child may even introduce sex into play with dolls, figurines, or even friends.
• Behavior changes. Since children have trouble expressing how they feel, they may channel their anger or hurt into acting out. They may end up with a behavior issue, where as before they didn't have one. They may even channel this anger towards other people, even those they love most because they aren't sure how else to say they are hurting, angry, mad, confused, or any emotion for that matter.
• PHYSICAL CLUES: Don't make a huge issue of it at first, because these signs don't mean your child has been hurt FOR SURE in this manner. Do a physical examination. Watch your child. Does it hurt when they sit down, are they having trouble pooping or peeing, wetting the bed unusually, swelling and or bruises in the vaginal area, redness or blood.
• Loss of sleep: Child wakes more than normal, is suddenly afraid of the dark or has more nightmares than usual. Your child may ask for a light when they did sleep in the dark.

I was astounded at the amount of people in my hometown-small home town who are child predators. you can check your hometown, or a specific person by clicking on this  link:
Megan's Law Registry for The United States of America 
So parents, do your homework and don't be afraid to discuss this with children. Child abuse is on the rise. If your child, your child's friend or someone you know is being harmed, or you have a suspicion that someone is hurting a child, sexual, physical, mentally, or emotionally, don't let it continue. YOU alone make a difference. Call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A CHILD (1-800-422-4453) where there are counselors available 24/7/365. Or click this link, and once you are there click on the purple tab that says "GET HELP" for more information on this service. Here's the link: Find resources, information, statistics, stories, or get involved by helping, even if you don't know anyone who's been harmed.
I hope you found help, or will now use this knowledge, as I will to help children in the future or present.

xoxoxox
Megs