Will 2013 be "The Year to Protect Children"?

2012 was a year of awakening for many Americans when it came to child safety.  Casey Anthony and Jerry Sandusky are two cases that come to mind simply because of the notoriety and media frenzy that took place surrounding them.  However, there were so many other cases last year: the students in the California classroom, many of whom didn’t even know they were abused and exploited by their teacher; the Internet stings of child pornographers across the country; the countless bullying incidents and cyberbullying deaths.  I could go on, but I believe at this point most people are aware that children in our country being bullied and abused on a regular basis. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to inundate you with cases and statistics to get my point across.

And just what is my point?  Each and every person reading this needs to step up in 2013 and do more.  One cannot know that a problem of this magnitude exists and do nothing and think that is acceptable.  These are innocent children and they need our help. It will take every one of us doing something, working together, to stop child maltreatment.

I often ask, “Why don’t people do more?” I know people are aware, how can they not be with the constant media coverage?  But I know awareness is not enough.  As I said, everyone must act if we are going to stop it.  Because it is AWARENESS + ACTION = PREVENTION! 

Maybe people don’t act because they are busy or because they have other causes they champion.  Or maybe they just don’t know what to do. I don’t want to take away from the time, efforts or money people give to other causes.  And I certainly don’t want to add more to the already stressful lives of American families.  But I also know that with a problem of this size it will take everyone doing something, no matter how small, to stop it.

So I decided to start the year off with a great blog for you – a list of things you can do to help children, parents, businesses, and communities – a list of ways to get involved.  Some are easy and free, while some are a bit more complex, but there is something that everyone can do.  It’s up to you to decide which ones you will choose, but I hope you will choose to do some of these throughout the year.  Imagine how great you will feel knowing that you are helping to protect children and prevent the abuse and unspeakable maltreatment that occurs behind closed doors, sometimes right on our own streets and neighborhoods.

• Volunteer your time or attend a fundraiser for Monique Burr Foundation (MBF) or your own favorite child abuse prevention charity.

• Take a class to learn more about sexual abuse prevention or recognizing and reporting abuse so you are an informed citizen and can help a child in need.  Learn more about prevention trainings on our website.

• Call your local school(s) or school district to confirm they are using our Speak Up Be Safe™ (SUBS) bullying and child abuse prevention curriculum in their school or in all elementary schools.

• Learn more about what Florida schools are doing to not only educate children, but to keep them safe as well at FLDOE.org/safeschools/.

• Give up one coffee or one lunch out a week and donate that money each month to MBF for our SUBS program.  That money can fund the program for nearly 90 students in one school year.

• Talk to your own children about important safety issues. Use the resources available on the MBF website and blog to help you become more comfortable and find ways to start those conversations.

• Learn more about the signs of abuse from the Department of Children & Families and Lauren’s Kids; find materials and resources about sexual abuse prevention, including a link to the Safer, Smarter Kids interactive parent toolkit from Lauren’s Kids at dontmissthesigns.org.

• Link to MBF’s website and blog on your own personal and/or professional website and email and ask your friends, professional contacts, and your child’s school to do the same.  Add a link to this blog post in your email signature to help us spread the word. Let’s make 2013 the Year to Protect Children!

• Talk to other parents about tough topics such as bullying, abuse, and sexting, etc., because only when we all start talking about these topics will they become less taboo, and only then will we change the culture of secrecy and silence that allows them to continue.

• Write letters to your congressional leaders (state and federal) and ask them to support legislation and provide funding to support prevention education for students and school staff as well as other youth serving organizations.

• Be available and present in your children’s lives even if you are busy with your own life. Monitor online use, learn more about technology (use our online resources and blog) and know what they are doing.  Don’t assume a one-time talk with them is sufficient.  Predators are adept at finding the gaps in children’s safety nets and using them to their advantage.  Make sure your child’s safety net is secure.

• Ask about child protection policies wherever you take your children (learn more about safe policies in an upcoming blog series) and if an organization doesn’t have them or won’t create them, take your child elsewhere.  You are not only being an advocate for your child, you are letting the agency know this is an important issue they need to address.

MBF thanks you for partnering with us to protect children this year. Make sure you come back to leave a comment and tell us what you’re doing to help make 2013 the Year to Protect Children. We’d love to hear from you!

A Reason to Skip One Day of Starbucks

As the Executive Director of the Monique Burr Foundation for Children, I am honestly overwhelmed and humbled by the progress we have made this year implementing our Speak Up Be Safe™ bullying and child abuse prevention program in elementary schools across Florida.  We expect to serve 400% more students than we did last school year.  Those 450,000 students attend the Monique Burr Foundation’s Speak Up Be Safe program in 47 out of 67 counties across the state.  (Don’t worry; we are working hard on the additional 20 counties who have not approved Speak Up Be Safe yet.) 

I think about media stories on child abuse and the horrific results from long term bullying that have caught our attention over the past year.  Some of those stories happening right here in Florida.   I don’t know a single person who didn’t hang their head when this kind of news hit the airwaves, and yet despite a nation full of concern, we are still struggling to raise funds to provide this preventative program in our public schools at no cost to the school.  We talk about these stories with ease, but at $2 a student, I wonder if our program would have changed the news.

As funds permit, we can and are implementing control features to keep our children, schools, and communities safer.  School counselors and teachers have expressed gratitude for a program that helps them teach students how to be safe against all forms of abuse and bullying at no cost to them.  Parents now have tools they didn’t even know they needed to communicate with their kids about topics that are not always comfortable but necessary.

Studies validate our approach and verify that the program content is age appropriate.  Our team of 7 employees is already working on updates to our Speak Up Be Safe program for the 2013 – 2014 school year.  We want to include the most current information about cyberbullying and bullying prevention along with developing fun interactive tools to reinforce lessons learned in the classroom.  We have also partnered with Lauren’s Kids who provides the “Safer, Smarter Kids” program for VPK – Kindergarten students. 

With all this work going on, I’m known to make a Starbucks run every now and then.  Around the holidays, I chose a Gingerbread latte… the Grande is $4.58.  It costs MBF only $2 to provide instruction and materials to a student in our state.  My coffee would pay for two students with a little left over.

Currently, we do not receive any state funding to supplement the cost of these programs.  And while it seems so simple at $2 per student, we still struggle to raise enough to meet our state’s need. In this New Year, would you be willing to step up as our kids speak up?  At the expense of one cup of Starbucks, you can provide the Speak Up Be Safe program to a student.  If you can’t forego the coffee, at a minimum “like” us on Facebook, visit our website and educate yourself on what we’re doing even if you do not have children or grandchildren.  Chances are, we’re in your community and we’re making a difference.

Happy New Year!
Lynn

My Recent Wake Up Call

Twice last week I left my twelve year old and ten and a half year old alone after school for a few hours. No different than other weeks, and not unlike parents of millions of children around the country, I consider them old enough to be home safely, following my established safety rules and with neighbors nearby in case of emergencies, until I get home just a few hours later.

So you can probably imagine my surprise when twice last week I received phone calls that each of them had opened the door for strangers, service call personnel, who luckily were nice people that turned and left our home upon learning from the girls that I was not home. 

What I know is that this could have turned out very differently. If either of these individuals were bad people, pedophiles, ill intentioned, or worse, my kids might not be in the other room right now. I am very thankful that it turned out well.

I am also thankful for the reminder that kids need ongoing safety and prevention education. Honestly, I haven’t talked to my kids about our safety rules in a while. Maybe I think because of what I do for a living they somehow “get it” and I don’t need to have those continual conversations with them. I learned last week I was very wrong, and I hope every parent that reads this post will learn from my recent “wake up” that they also need to have those continual conversations with their own kids.

We hear it said over and over, “adults are responsible for keeping kids safe,” and we agree completely. But we also know we can’t be with them 24/7 so we must educate and empower them to help protect themselves. And we do that by talking to them and teaching them. Not once, not a few times, but continuously.

If we all work together – parents, schools, and community members – we can be very effective at teaching them and protecting them. The Speak Up Be Safe™ (SUBS) program works to do just that - educate and empower children. It teaches elementary students about personal safety, bullying and child abuse prevention starting in first grade and reinforces and builds upon learning skills every year. The program has multiple sessions, and the curriculum concepts are reinforced by teachers and parents with activities and learning strategies designed to foster ongoing communication and continued learning for kids.

The strategies used in SUBS can be used by all of us in our every day lives to better protect our kids.  We can teach our kids important safety concepts, start young, reinforce skills previously taught and build upon them as our kids get older.  Most importantly, we can continue the conversations and learning activities day after day, week after week, and month after month as opportunities present themselves and as we learn things our kids need to know to educate and empower them to better protect themselves.

Some things are blessings in disguise I suppose. I guess it’s time for me to get busy talking about these things with my kids. You too maybe? Not sure what to say? Keep following our blog and we’ll give you some ideas in upcoming posts!

Moving Forward with Gratitude!

So the election is over and based on the outcome, about half of you reading this are probably pleased with the results while the other half are not. Regardless of the outcome, it is time to put the election behind us and focus on the future, and on children.

Since it’s November and many people are sharing what they are thankful for, we thought it was a good time to express our gratitude as well. We are thankful that we have a strong team with a passion for protecting children.  We are thankful for our leaders and board that guide us in our mission, and our donors, sponsors, partners and other supporters who help us fulfill that mission every day. The mission of the Monique Burr Foundation for Children has not changed and we are adding school districts daily that are approving and implementing Speak Up Be Safe™ (SUBS).  We are thankful for the wonderful facilitators who have implemented SUBS and have given us excellent feedback about the program and about their students’ reactions.

We are also thankful that we are touching children’s lives every day in a positive way and protecting them from the many dangers they face in our society today.  We have learned recently from experts in the field at two very prominent national conferences, that our efforts to implement a comprehensive program in the schools to elementary children is right on track. We have learned that SUBS, a program that addresses multiple issues in one curriculum, such as bullying, cyberbullying and all forms of abuse, is now following the recommended approach to child safety and we have been on the right track since we began in 2009. 

And for every reader of our blog, we are thankful for you. We appreciate each and every person who shares the information on our blog and website with other kids, parents and school professionals to help us spread our message of prevention and protection!  We appreciate you all.

As we move into 2013, we look forward to some additions and making SUBS the best it can be. As always, we will strive to keep the program up to date and relevant and look forward to sharing evidence of the program’s effectiveness from research. We hope as you move into 2013, your New Year’s resolutions will include us. We hope you will follow our blog and Facebook page, help us get SUBS implemented in your school district and school if it is not already being offered, and will help us with some great new things on the horizon.  Stay tuned for some tips and ideas from your MBF team as 2013 unfolds!