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	Child Abuse By Henry J. Waters III Columbia Daily Tribune December 26, 2011 http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/dec/26/child-abuse/ We ran a story yesterday from the Philadelphia Inquirer about the spate of child sex-abuse revelations in that state. The highest-profile scandal involved officials at Penn State University, but since then a number of unrelated victims have told stories about their own sad experiences. Widespread sexual abuse by priests led to the formation of SNAP — Survivor’s Network of Those Abused by Priests. Executive Director David Clohessy said, “The real enemy in the child safety struggle is ‘surely.’ Surely, after all those lawsuits, surely after all those priests were ousted,” no day care center or athletic program, school or church or scouting group would continue to ignore or hide abuse. More reports of abuse surely are not enough to fully report the situation. Child sex abuse is by nature a secretive business, fomented by the abusers and kept quiet by youthful victims at a loss what to do. The very idea of telling parents or other mentors is frightening and degrading. Youngsters want to please abusing adults, who usually occupy positions of trust and regard. In recent cases, knowledgeable adults refused to help combat the situation. If new revelations lead such adults to take action, it will help, but people are reluctant to report bad behavior by friends or family members. They will want to ignore such incidents in hopes they really did not see what they think. They will want close associates to correct bad behavior without holding them up to ridicule and punishment. If fear of child sex abuse leads parents to withhold children from youth programs overseen by middle-aged men, suspicion will be unfairly misplaced for many to avoid dangers that might be perpetrated by the few. Child sex abuse has been going on forever. Probably it is no worse now than before. More publicity is bound to help, almost always requiring individual confession long held secret. Otherwise, out of sight and out of mind for most people. HJW III It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, we should take seriously.
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