Sep 27 2007
Child Molestation affects siblings, too
Child molestation happens both to young children and teenagers. When I speak of child here, I speak of both children and teenagers.
It happened to someone I knew (after the fact). It has happened, I am sure, to people even as I knew them, but they hid it. It doesn’t have to happen. It shouldn’t happen. We can’t be with our children or or neighbors’ children every moment, but we can both keep our eyes and ears open, and listen with our minds and hearts to the words and body language of children.
Parents often carry guilt around with them about something. Most of us can identify with that feeling on some level. Think about this. If we don’t act on it when we think a child is being abused, we are shoving guilt similar to what we can identify with in huge multiples to both the child being abused and the siblings and friends of that same child. By our not reacting, not standing up to remove that child from the situation, we are also affecting the other children - for most, if not all, of their lives…. And abused children, and children who are carrying guilt, even if unjustified, lose their self-esteem.
You have seen the results of someone losing their self-esteem. You don’t want anyone else to see it or feel it. The short short story was written on my other blog from a prompt provided by Write Stuff for Fiction Friday. It is fiction, but, it gets the point across that abuse affects the other children, too……………. Please, read it, get the chills some got when reading it and if you suspect something, reach out to someone…. at the least help them rebuild their self-respect and dump their guilt. They deserve your help. They need your help.
Chronomentrophobia
Sharon’s brother knew why she was afraid of clocks, but he never told. In fact, he never let on he even knew. Oh, he teased her unmercifully about it in front of the other kids. After all, he couldn’t let on he knew.
Well, unmercifully is an exaggeration, for he was very protective of Sharon. He always stopped short of putting one beneath her bed or hiding one in her bathrobe pocket. He couldn’t let himself go that far.
He knew the ticking, the incessant, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, reminded her of those nights at their cousin’s house. He knew that if she saw the big hand on the 12 and the little hand on the 10, even now, she quietly went into the bathroom and threw up. It was the only way she could purge herself of the memory.
He wanted to help. He had wanted to tell on each of those four Saturday nights, but he was afraid of Uncle Nathan’s fists. He had seen the damage they could cause the summer before she had been, well, you know.
The clocks at their uncle’s house had been awfully loud: tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick was all they heard at lights out at eight. But at ten they all heard another sound, a muffled whimpering…
He had to tease her, he couldn’t tell, he had to tease her, they couldn’t know he knew. They would not understand why he didn’t tell… She couldn’t know he knew. Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick.
He reached down and smashed the clock. Then went to tell his mom that Sharon broke it. He couldn’t let them know he knew.
MeeAugraphie
09/20/07
Please, if you have something to say about Abuse, any Abuse, speak up, say it…. say it in your blog, post it on someone else’s blog, write it somewhere, say it out loud…. One of us will make a difference. It doesn’t matter which one of us as long as it is someone.
I also wrote about three other abuses, links to all four can be found here: McLeesBogaert
4 responses so far
I remember when Rose read this. Powerful memories.
[...] Child Molestation affects siblings, too [...]
Great sentiment. Like Natalie Merchant sang, “I want to say . . . What’s the matter here?” So often we say nothing, not wanting to get into people’s business.
great post!