30 Days of Child Abuse Prevention

Day 25

Why?

Why do we hurt our children? Our children are our future, are they not? Every day, about five children die from child abuse, and cases of abuse are reported every ten seconds. These are children, with hopes and dreams, with their whole life ahead of them.

And what about the ones that never say anything, that nobody ever finds out about?

Why must this go on? We have landed men on the moon, we have explored the depths of the ocean, we have developed technology behind anyone’s wildest dreams, but yet we have not learned to care for our young ones.

Our children should not have to grow up in a world of pain. Our children should not have to fear for their lives, every day, wondering if they are going to survive. Our children should not have to pretend that everything is alright, when inside they are falling apart.

If you know of someone who is being hurt, speak up, for their sake. If you are being abused, know that you deserve better, and get out of there.

Most children that die from abuse are under the age of four.

Anyone can do it, no matter of social status, education, religion, culture.

Thirty percent of those that are abused as children will abuse their own children.

Victims are fifty-nine percent more likely to be arrested as a juvenile…

…and thirty percent as an adult.

Nothing good comes from child abuse.

So why do we have forty million children being abused each year, around the world?

Why do we hurt our children, our future? Why must this go on?

Why?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okeRuvG5inM

Day 26

Will stepped out of the car and leaned against the open door, staring at the house. Blue and red lights flickered against the pastel yellow of the two-story dwelling. He sighed softly and then closed the door. He and the other four cops glanced at one another before Will started towards the front door. None of them wanted to do this, but it had to be done.

Will knocked on the door. He waited a moment, and then was about to knock again when he heard a slight noise inside. A few moments later the mayor opened the door.

“Will,” he said, smiling, but the door remained only partially open. “What brings you here?”

“Where is your kid, Tom?” The cop didn’t mince words, not wanting to draw this out any longer than he had to.

“My kid?” The blood drained from his face, though his smile remained. “Sara’s out with her friends right now.”

“Sara doesn’t have any friends.” Will flashed his badge. “What she does have are bruises, Tom. Now step aside.”

The mayor stood there for a moment longer and then slowly moved back, giving Will room to step inside.

“If somebody’s been hurting my little girl, I want to know.”

Will turned to face him as two of the other cops entered the house. The last two would stay outside, just in case the mayor tried to make a run for it. “You do know.” He left the room then, leaving the mayor for the other two cops to handle. He had to find the girl, to make sure that she was alright, and to get her somewhere safe.

“Sara?” he called out as he searched the place. He had a sinking pit in his stomach as he hurried from room to room, but saw nothing. Were they too late? “Sara?”

His plea was answered only by silence.

“Sara?”

He turned to leave the bedroom, but then heard the slightest of sounds and paused. He didn’t say anything, didn’t move, but simply waited. He heard it again, a soft sob, and turned towards the dresser. As he stepped closer, he noted the blood spots staining the worn wood, some old and some fresh.

Slowly, carefully, he pulled open the bottom drawer to reveal the seven-year-old child, Sara. She was crying, with silent tears streaming down her cheeks, and blood was matted in her dark hair, as well as staining her clothing. Bruises covered her body. She stared up at him, with haunted eyes, and then shrank back, whimpering.

“Shh,” Will whispered as he crouched down. She flinched farther back, and he had no doubts that she would have been dead within the hour, if he and the others had not shown up. “It’s okay, Sara. He can’t hurt you anymore. You’re safe now. You’re safe.”

She simply stared at him, quivering, like a scared dog who wanted nothing more than to flee, than to hide. It broke his heart, to watch her and to see what her father had done to her, had turned her into. Tears filled his own eyes and he held out his arms, making sure to move slowly.

“It’s okay, Sara. You don’t have to hurt anymore. I’ll keep you safe. He won’t hurt you ever again.”

Slowly, she shifted her body around and then she threw herself at him, sobbing and clutching at his clothing. He held her close, crying and hurting with her.

Half an hour later, he carried her out of the house, out of her old life, and into her new.


Note: Didn't research, just wrote. I probably got the cop stuff all wrong, but this is another planet, so... We'll pretend anything I got wrong is just how they do things on this planet.

Day 27

“Jenny.”

The child paused and glanced back at her teacher as the other students rushed out of the classroom to head home. “What is it?” she asked and gave a tug at her sleeve.

He watched the movement with sad eyes and then waved her over to his desk. “I need to speak with you. Don’t be afraid.” He spoke softly, his heart going out to her as she slowly approached.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?” She stopped before his desk, only a second grader. Her clothing was worn, and slightly over-sized, and her frame was skinny—skinny and shaking. Her brown hair was cut short, and her brown eyes were swimming with tears, though none fell.

“No,” the teacher, Thomas, whispered as he held out a hand and guided her around to the other side of the desk. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Jenny.” He stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out where to begin.

“I was hurt too, as a child.” He saw her start, saw her staring at him, but he didn’t stop speaking. “I thought that I deserved it, that it was because I was different, bad. I never said anything, and if anybody asked I denied it.” He looked up at her with his mismatched eyes, to see that she was crying. He took her small hand in his, squeezing it gently to let her know that he was there, and that he cared.

“Nobody deserves to be hurt, Jenny. Nobody.” He stared into her eyes, now silently crying too. “I don’t think you’re worthless.”

He drew her into a hug and held her close as she let out the emotions she had been holding back for so long. Only when her sobbing had stopped did he release her, but he still held her hand as he climbed to his feet and then led her towards the door.

“I’ll help you get through this,” he whispered to her as he glanced down at her. “No matter what, remember that I care.”

She looked up at him, with her serious brown eyes and asked, “You care?”

“Yes.”

He smiled at her, and she offered him the beginnings of a smile.


Note: I don't think I write and end to the child abuse as well as I do the other stuff... And this is the same Thomas from Day 5.

Day 28

He was frightened and clung tightly to the woman he was holding because of it. There were voices, and sirens, and the yelling of his mother as she was forced into the back of a police car. He didn’t look towards his mother, but instead had his eyes tightly squeezed shut, though he could still see the red and blue of the flashing lights.

The officer that was carrying him paused, answered back to a question she had been asked, and then she added something in a softer tone. He didn’t pay attention to the words, didn’t pay attention to anything. Tears streamed down his cheeks and fell onto the officer’s uniform.

His mother had warned him about them, and that they would put him down like one does a dog, because he was defective. He didn’t want to die. Wasn’t that why he had said nothing, all of these years? But now… now… His entire body shook with his sobs. Even if he could get away from them, he was sure that his mother would find him again, and beat him for this. Or somebody else would beat him, because he was defective. He… He d-didn’t…

Suddenly he was aware of a hand patting him gently on his back and a head pressed against his. “It’s okay,” a voice whispered, one he recognized as the officer that held him. “It’s all over. She can’t hurt you anymore, or your little sister. We’re going to keep you two safe.”

He wasn’t sure if he could believe the words, though he desperately wanted too. He couldn’t remember the last time that he felt safe, that he didn’t need to worry about his sister, that he didn’t need to worry about himself. How did he know that he could believe them? His mother had told him, warned him, again and again. But she had also been the one to hurt them. The police were taking her away, and promising that they would be safe. Who could he believe? Or was it all lies?

The officer had stopped again and he heard a car door opening. He was shifted around and then the next thing he knew they were both in the car, and he was sitting on her lap. The door closed, cutting off a large percentage of the sound and, with a start, he realized that they were alone.

“It’s okay,” she whispered and pressed her head against his once more. “I know what it’s like, to be suddenly pulled from a bad situation. It’s almost like a dream, unreal. And it’s scary. But trust me, kid, this is a good thing.”

She had… had been…? He tried to stop the tears, to clear his throat, to speak, but he just couldn’t stop. Could he trust her? Was she just saying all that to… to get him to trust her?

“Is it… is this… r-real-lly all…?” His throat choked up again and he could not finish, but he did not need to for the meaning to be understood.

“Yes, it’s all over.”


Note: The cop is Martina Hamper. I think that this is the nicest she has ever been...

Day 29

I allowed you to chain me down
I listened to you and believed
I allowed you to chain me down
By word and by deed

I allowed you to chain me down
It started when I was young
I allowed you to chain me down
You smiled and called it fun

I allowed you to chain me down
Your words were a knife
I allowed you to chain me down
My world you made a strife

I allowed you to chain me down
With “art” upon my skin
I allowed you to chain me down
How was I to know this was sin

I allowed you to chain me down
So many years this went on
I allowed you to chain me down
But today is a new dawn

Day 30

Nao’nac curled up into a ball on the angel’s shoulder, purring like a cat with his pleasure at seeing her again. She smiled and patted the small creature on the head, pleased to see him as well.

“Hello, Nao’nac,” she whispered to him, and then looked around with her blue eyes. “Where’s Zhang and Bosa? They’re usually here to great me too.”

And then she saw them in the distance, hurrying towards her.

The sight of them brought tears to her eyes, and reminded her of the past. When she had first come here, she had been a scared little girl, acting at least ten years younger than she had been. She had thought herself worthless, useless, defective. Zhang, Bosa, and Nao’nac had taught her better, and now she was so much stronger for it.

In the place of the cowering thirteen-year-old was a young woman, confident and strong. Her pure white wings snapped out and she jumped into the air, catching the hot currents with ease. She soared through the sky, towards her two friends. Nao’nac held onto her dark hair, laughing with her in the sheer joy of the act.

Rarely could one see a trace of the old her, of the abused child who had been afraid of everything. Every now and then she would grow silent and her smile would disappear, but that was only for a moment and then she was strong once again. She was no longer a victim, but instead a survivor.

Nothing could chain her down anymore—not words, not pain, not anything, not anyone.

Tahira swooped down and landed before her friends, still smiling and laughing.

She was alive; she was free.



Note: This is the same girl that died in Day 24. Zhang and Bosa are both Plague's.

I've decided just to put all of my child abuse stuff here, since I don't know if I'll be doing something like my 30 days thing again.

Anyways, I've been cleaning my room and I came across a haiku I wrote several years ago. I figured that it was decent enough to post up.