Fodder Up! Dads - Protecting Your Children from Sexual Abuse

When I started this blog it was with the intention of educating myself about the ins and outs of what it truly means to be a “great” dad.  I didn’t have the best role model in my own father. He wasn’t what you’d call hands on, but having said that, I have no doubt that he loves me in his own, call it misguided way. He wasn’t the ideal dad, and I’ve come to accept that not every dad is meant to be an exceptional father, but to his credit, on his worst day, my dad wasn’t half as bad as some of the fathers you read about in the newspapers: the abandoners (not a word), the abusers, the abhorrent assholes who would sexually mistreat their own child.  My father was a failure in many ways, but when it came to protecting his young children from the evils of the world, my dad never let me down, and it’s sad to think not every child can say the same.


It’s time to Fodder Up! and educate yourself on what you can do as a father to ensure that you are doing everything in your power to ensure that no harm comes to your child, by your hand, a family member’s hand, a caregiver’s, a teacher’s, or a stranger’s. It is a father’s job to protect the innocence of his child for as long as it is humanly possible. It is a dad’s job to preserve the light that each and every child exudes, ensuring that, on your watch, no one will take the beauty or the wonderment of a happy childhood away from your little boy or girl.

We all know the films; movies with scenes where a father has to take vengeance on those who have harmed his little girl. Films like Death Wish or A Time to Kill where fathers merely react and inflict pain on those who have committed horrific acts against their children.  Or films like Sleepers, where little boys cry out for their dads in the middle of the night as their abusers rob them of their innocence, and, more often than not, the fathers never find out.  These are only movies, and as frightening as they may be, reality is ten times scarier.

So what can you do? Lock up your children? Only leave them with people you trust? Well, who do you really trust with your child? Statistics say if a child is going to be abused it’s not going to be by someone they’ve never met before, it’s going to be by someone close to them like a parent, a grandparent, a family friend, a coach, or a babysitter. It’s time to prepare yourself for the realities… 1 in every six children will be sexually abused. How do you prevent this from happening to your child?

A.    STATISTICS: (source: www.turningpointservices.org)

It is estimated that as many as 40 million Americans, one in six people, experienced sexual victimization as children:

• 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually victimized before age 18.
• The most common ages of children when sexual abuse occurs are between 8 and 12.
• Child sexual abuse is seldom a one-time occurrence, and lasts and average of 1 to 4 years.
• 75% to 80% of all children assaulted or abused were victimized by someone they knew.
• One of five rape victims is under age 12; 10% of all are under age 5.
 • Over 80% of offenders first offended by the age of 30 years.

B.    ARTICLE: CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE: WHAT PARENTS SHOULD KNOW
C.    ARTICLE: COMMON MYTHS ABOUT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE -
D.    ARTICLE: PREVENTION: TEACHING ‘GOOD’ TOUCH VERSUS ‘BAD’ TOUCH
E.    ARTICLE: HOW TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM PREDATORS
F.    ARTICLE: WHAT TO DO IF YOU THINK YOUR CHILD HAS BEEN MOLESTED :

• Talking to your child

• Responding to your child’s claims of abuse

• Supporting your child through the process of proceeding forward  (Note: I found this information helpful, even if it has its biases...based on statistics).

The truth is all you can do is your best when it comes to protecting and educating yourself and your children against sexual abuse at the hands of someone they know. But an ounce of prevention and being proactive in knowing the signals to look for may mean all the difference.

We all want our children to be safe. Arm yourself with the tools to ensure your child won't become just another statistic.

- Fodder 4 Fathers

"Leave No Dad Behind"

Related Links:

Sheldon Kennedy Talks About Sexual Abuse - Interview
True Story of Child Sexual Abuse