Where evil lurks

My heart is heavy as I write this.  I can't begin to fathom why anyone would hurt a child. Violence against anyone is contemptible...but a child?  These precious beings rely on adults for guidance, nurturing and love. They are harmless, innocent and trusting. Yet in the bowels of mankind exist those that prey on, exploit, torment and even take their lives. Sadly it's not just adults, it's also peer groups. As each story unfolds we weep, not only for the loss of  innocence or life, but for failing to protect them.

The saying, 'it takes a village to raise a child' is more than a proverb. Parents, teachers, family, friends, coaches, caregivers, and neighbours all play an integral part in shaping a child. So we all take responsibility for the well being of that child. Somewhere down the line we've lost the innate ability to identify children that are living with abuse and bullying. The incidence of abuse, abduction, murder and bullying has been climbing and although we have so many well intentioned organizations and groups trying to raise awareness, we keep missing the mark. Why? Are we so absorbed in our lives that we cannot see what is as plain as the light of day? Or do we choose to ignore it? This is not meant to be a blame game.  Blaming gets us nowhere. It's a plea for change. We need to put better action plans into place and make people accountable. Everyone must work together to achieve the common goal of defending the defenseless. Regardless of our role in society, we need to be keenly aware of how our children are being raised, treated and taught, because, they will be the generation that takes the reigns when we become aged and frail...when we become reliant on them. Age has a funny way of doing that...bringing us back to a childlike state of dependancy.

So where do we start? Keeping the dialogue alive and action because we can too easily become complacent and think someone else is taking up the cause...

Remember the story of four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody? Well here's a refresher.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it.
Everybody was sure Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when actually Nobody asked Anybody.