Family Nurturing Center works to raise awareness, prevent child abuse

One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18.
 
“That’s a national statistic, but if you just simply stand at the mall and count kids or stand at the playground or be out at a festival or something and just count one, two, three, four—or one, two, three, four, five, six—it’s amazing to think one of those children is going to be impacted or victimized by the time they reach 18,” says Tracy Fuchs, director of marketing and special events for The Family Nurturing Center.
 
“And what’s sad is that childhood abuse and sexual abuse are completely preventable—it’s not like cancer—but it’s only preventable when adults take the responsible role and are able to confront it and prevent it from happening.”
 
The Family Nurturing Center is a nonprofit that’s mission is to promote well being for individuals and healthy relationships for families; and it works to achieve that mission through programming aimed at education, prevention and treatment for both children and adults.
 
“Ultimately, it’s an adult’s responsibility,” Fuchs says. “We tell children to go find a trusted adult, but what if that adult doesn’t believe you?”
 
Stewards of Children, which is a one-time, two-hour program for adults, is one of the FNC’s efforts to reach the community and prevent abuse and neglect. 
 
“If you suspect something is happening, a lot of times, people will say, ‘Well, if I call, are they going to ask me my name? What if I report it, and it’s wrong, or I don’t want to get involved because it’s not in my household?’” Fuchs says. “But you have to get over yourself and make that call.”
 
Fuchs says one of FNC’s goals in promoting the program is to work toward changing the culture because so often, it’s difficult to get people engaged because they think discussing the topic is “uncomfortable” or “icky.”
 
“But if you say to someone, ‘Would you give two hours just to protect children?,’” Fuchs says she hopes more adults will respond.
 
“Some insurance companies now are encouraging their clients to have this training done for their employees—honest to God—because insurance companies now have childhood sexual abuse training credit, where if you have this training, you get a discount on your insurance,” Fuchs says. “It’s a good thing—but it’s amazing that our society has come to that point.” 

Do Good:

• Pre-register for the Blue Ribbon 5K Race to join others in a Race to End Child Abuse.  

• Schedule a free training session through the Stewards of Children program. 

• Engage in Child Abuse Prevention month Awareness Activities.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a project manager for Charitable Words. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.