ARKANSAS
Arkansas Matters
BENTONVILLE, AR — As many as 98 percent of sexual abusers are not caught, according to the Arkansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault. While thousands of kids head to local schools and churches regularly, not all places have training to recognize abuse or policies to report it.
So the Children’s Advocacy Center is calling all adults to make children’s safety a top priority.
“We had a child here one time, he was an 8-year-old boy,” remembers Andrew Lentz, Children’s Advocacy Center(CAC) director of education. “He was asked to describe what physical abuse was and he said, ‘That’s when they scream at you and they hit you, they tell you that they don’t deserve to live, and you bleed and you cry.’ Those are the words of a child who grew up in our community.”
The CAC in Benton County opened 772 cases of child abuse in 2012, but say thousands more go unreported each year.
“People don’t understand that while child abuse is complicated and reporting child abuse can be difficult, as a teacher, as an adult, it’s your responsibility to protect kids, explains Lentz.
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