My dream to make children free, safe, and secure

Martin Luther King said “I have a dream”, a dream about freedom for his own people to be free.  I, too, have a dream.  A dream about freedom for children.  A dream for children to be free of violence and abuse in their own homes.  For children to be protected, nurtured, and held precious by their parents, family members, primary caretakers, teachers, ministers, rabbis, and priests.  A dream for children to be safe at home and on the streets.  For children to have safety, security, and happiness no matter where they go, no matter who they are with. 

You may ask yourself, how can I make children free, safe, and secure.  I am just one person.  Martin Luther King was just one person, one person with a dream.  And yet, there is not one person  reading this today who did not benefit from the impact of one man’s dream.

It is ordinary men and women, just like you and me who stand up for children and say no, no more will I stand idly by and see another child hurt, another child grow up too fast, another child walk around bruised and battered by an adult, another child walk around with empty eyes.

I stand today and speak out for all children to be healthy in body, mind, and spirit.  I stand today and speak out for all children to live free from fear in their own homes, in their communities, in their schools, and in their families.  I stand and speak out as one voice to protect the children.  To make our homes and streets safe from predators.  To make a new paradigm for children no matter who gave birth to them, no matter what their circumstances. 

 We must define new paradigms for rehabilitation of prisoners, criminals, and predators.  To reach out to victims and help them heal.  To reach out to abusers and help them heal.  To prevent violence from taking over our society by teaching healthy/nurturing parenting to every early adolescence.  To teach healthy nurturing parenting to every pregnant woman and her baby’s father.  To support all, all, I say parents in their early parenting days.  To support all parents through tough parenting years, especially the teen years.

To stand up and speak out until we find the answers to stem the tide of child abuse in our country and in the world.

It takes a nation to pull together and meet a crisis head-on.  We are in a critical situation today.  A critical situation that is impacting the very fabric of society.  The impacts of child abuse are lifelong.  They affect the children from the point abuse occurs until their death whether it be in childhood or adulthood.  The impacts are physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.  From bruises and broken bones to chronic illness in middle age to early adult deaths.  From minor to major mental illness.  From low self-esteem and low self-worth to major emotional problems that affect full functioning and making a contribution to society.  From total rejection of spiritual connection to cult worship, abused children search for their spiritual center.

I challenge you today to stand and take action in your community.  To put your maximum financial and physical support behind the tireless workers who are overloaded, overburdened, and burned out attempting to turn the tide of child abuse.  I exhort you to take action to educate yourself about what is being done and more importantly what needs to be done to STOP child abuse now!  Go to your community leaders and find out what you can do.  Then, follow through and make a difference in the lives of the children in your homes, in your community.

You are the one person who can make the dream of every child in your community come true.  You are the one person who can protect every child in your community from being abused, you are the one person who can protect every child in their home from being abused.  You can make the dream come true for every child — —

It is up to you!  Stand up, speak out, and get into action, NOW!!

So, I ask you today…

 How much longer are you willing to put child abuse on the back burner? 

 What does it take for our society to address the multitude of impacts of child abuse on our citizens? 

I ask you to stand with me today and say now, now is the time to bring child abuse to the front burner of our state and national agenda.

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