Child Abuse Prevention

When I was little, child abuse prevention didn’t exist. I played outside by myself and walked to school alone. Today, child abuse prevention is a hot topic, and one our society needs to take seriously. My memoir, Following the Whispers illustrates a childhood of emotional and psychological damage from dysfunctional parenting and a 1950’s way of life ignorant of dangers child abuse prevention now takes into consideration. Back then, parents didn’t worry about what might happen to their children. And parental abuse was never talked about.

At seven years old, I was sexually molested by a strange man painting an apartment in the building in which I lived. Throughout elementary school, I walked several blocks to and from school with no parental accompaniment and several times men “flashed” their penises at me. Because of these events, I am probably overly cautious in my attitudes about parenting. I’m not sure what age I consider it “safe” for a child to be out alone. Even the safest neighborhoods require child abuse prevention precautions.

Following the Whispers is a story of parents who did the best they could, parenting the way they themselves had been parented, not know much about child abuse prevention. When I became a parent, I was determined to do better than my parents had.  But I could only behave as I had learned how. That is one aspect of child abuse prevention—awareness of the problem. But to truly embrace child abuse prevention, parents must be willing to examine their attitudes and behavior towards their children and make the necessary changes so that abuse isn’t perpetuated generation after generation. Following the Whispers traces how I learned to change my attitudes and behaviors and inch forward towards child abuse prevention in future generations.

Want to know more about child abuse prevention? Get your copy of Following the Whispers today!