How to Keep Our Children Safe from Abuse
Children can be easily exploited and abused. Their dependence on adults, their naivety, and difficulties in expressing themselves can pave the way to abuse.
Adults play an important role in keeping children safe in their family and community.
Child abuse is not just a family problem. It is everyone’s business.
Child abuse is a serious social health issue and takes many forms: physical, emotional, verbal, sexual, neglect, exploitation, and more.
Child abuse can be found in every society, every culture, and every socio-economic level.
How Can We Keep Our Children Safe?
What happens to kids during childhood shapes who they become as adults? Children living through abuse and violence suffer the ill effects of trauma for the rest of their lives.
If You See Something, Say Something
Whoever saves one life, saves the entire world.
If you witness abusive behavior towards a child you must report it! Don’t keep it to yourself. Say something. Speak up. You may save a child from harm, or even save a child’s life
New York State Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-342-3720
You can make this call anonymously.
For more information:
nyspcc.org
prevent childabuseny.org
It’s not easy to report suspected child abuse. But if you are scared, try to imagine how scared the child is! We all share a moral responsibility to ensure a safe childhood for every child in our community.
Additional Resources
The resources below are suggested for those who would like to explore issues related to this sermon series in greater depth.
The Big Feelings Podcast: Rabbi Ingber shared his own story of childhood trauma on Dani Shapiro’s Family Secrets podcast. Listen on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence by Alice Miller: For Your Own Good, the contemporary classic exploring the serious if not gravely dangerous consequences parental cruelty can bring to bear on children everywhere, is one of the central works by Alice Miller, the celebrated Swiss psychoanalyst.
One Child International brochure on the four types of child abuse.
CLOSING THE GAP IN BEST PRACTICES FOR PREVENTION AND RESPONSE TO SEXUAL ABUSE OF MINORS IN JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS: JUMPSTART REPORT – ISSUE SIX – SUMMER 2017
Institutional abuse in the Jewish community by Shira M. Berkovits: Article in Tradition Issue 50.2
Preventing Abuse in Jewish Organizations that Serve Youth: Ten Policies to Create Safer Environmentsby Shira Berkovitz
Thank you to our partners at the Haruv Institute for providing the information on this page.