On February 15th, Rachel, Rei and I headed out to a downtown elementary public school to watch CAPP’s child abuse prevention puppet show. We were going to be watching it with third and fourth graders, and I found how it was very interesting how the children interpreted the information. The puppet show was directed around two characters, one who faced physical abuse, and one who faced sexual abuse. These characters talked through what their abusers did to them and how they got help. The show was designed so that everytime children became anxious, there were comic relief and a funny scene.There were many moments where students were allowed to ask questions in the show, and afterward, there was a time when children could meet with the puppeteers (who are mandated child abuse reporters) and make a disclosure to them.We learned about how mandated child abuse reporting works, and how they perform minimal information interviews. The puppeteers would ask the children questions about their abuse like who, what, where, and when, but never why. They know that if they asked the children why the abuse was happening, it could shift the blame to them, and abuse is never the child’s fault. When the puppeteers asked the children who the child sexual abuser looked like, the results were fascinating. Some children said that they were a Muslim or an African American, and since the puppet show had already said that the abuser was male, they thought he was a man as well. I thought this was a very important point in understanding child abuse because everyone I had spoken to seemed to have a predestined idea of who child abusers were. Marion White, the Senior Program Director of the Child Abuse Prevention Program, told us that when she was growing up, she was always told child abusers were the creepy guys hovering around vans. The child abuse survivor we spoke to used to believed that all parents were just as abusive as their own, especially Indian ones. I used to believe that child abusers were crazy people who were predominately poor and male, but all of these beliefs are wrong. Child abusers can be anyone, and though they are more likely to be male, females can also be abusers as well. People seem to be shocked when they are told that child abusers can seem like regular people and that you probably already know many! Child abusers can be of any race, religion, age, gender, or status. I think that this fact is often overlooked by many people to make them feel more safe and sheltered, and in our teach-in, we should make this fact a major point. Child abusers are often people we deem as “safe”, like parents, family members, school teachers, coaches, and more. This is why I think that child abuse awareness and prevention should be taught in schools, and why I am so grateful to be able to give a workshop on it in my own.
