Churches not schools the best way to prevent child abuse

 

In a bold move to protect its students from abuse by cyber predators, Lee County, North Carolina school administrators have barred its teachers from communicating with students through public social networking sites and through text messages. Good for Lee County Schools. Even better is that the school system has invested $6000 to create a networking site for teachers and students that administrators can monitor for abusive activity, and immediately hand out disciplinary measures if deemed necessary.

While I applaud Lee County school administrators for the their insight and initiative, it is naïve to think a new student-teacher networking site or personnel policy will do much, if anything, to stop a determined predator from assaulting a child.

It is sad to say, but the three most dangerous places for a child today is either in church, at school, or in the home.

By nature, children respect and fear people in authority, if for no other reason than the fact that they fear the consequences of defying that authority. Embodied within this fear is a sense of respect built on a foundation of trust, which is, most likely, why 75% of children are willing to share personal information about themselves or their family in exchange for some type of reward or favor. This fear of authority could also account for why only 25% of all children solicited for sexual favors ever told a parent or another adult.

While the media makes it seem that sexual abuse is on the rise, the number of estimated sexual abuse cases in the United States has actually declined by 40% between 1990 and 2000, and has yet to return to previous levels. Perhaps the most alarming statistic being reported is that 95% of all child abuse, including sexual abuse, is perpetrated by an immediate family member of which 79% are parents. Unmarried partners of a parent account for 5% of all abuse while a close relative account for another 7%.

While school systems like Lee County are doing their part to prevent the abuse of its students, the real job of protecting our children belongs to the church serving as an integral part of the overall community. Personally, I like the old Celtic model of Church-as-Abbey where the people of a given community are ruled not by religious law, but by the principle of loving God and loving others as commanded by the Bible.

At the heart of the church-as-abbey is a commitment to the worship of God. Education, commerce, care for the impoverished, arts and entertainment all are centered on the adoration of God and him alone. In such a community child abuse of in any form could exist, but because of the closeness of the citizens to one another, it is unlikely long-term abuse would go on unnoticed.

At the same time, the desire to abuse would also diminish in a Christ-centered community of worshippers, if for no other reason than the fact that the focus of human desire is on God and not on self. Abuse is, after all, aside from a reaction to mental illness, an extreme and hateful act of the will in response to others not meeting certain expectations. Therefore, it only stands to reason that when the object of desire is on the Lord, we will not desire to hurt those whose care has been entrusted to us.

For more information on ways to prevent child abuse please go to:

Prevent Child Abuse America

North Carolina Sex Offenders Registry

United States Department of Justice Sex Offender Public Website