Abuse ‘doesn’t define’ children

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This article was published 11/05/2016 (2506 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PARENTS are the best protection children have from sexual predators, says Noni Classen, director of education for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

Classen said that’s because you can’t stop a predator from offering services to kids to gain access to them.

The centre is a charitable organization dedicated to the personal safety of children, with a goal to reduce victimization by providing services, including programs to help parents and organizations identify and prevent sexual exploitation.

But all the protocols in the world can’t guarantee safety, and it’s important parents know they can do something to help their children, Classen said Tuesday.

“For kids who have gone through something like this, this will be a negative experience. But it’s not who they are. It doesn’t define them. It’s an experience they need help getting through, processing it, so they can recover and they can go on,” she said.

To help kids, many parents will first have to get past blaming themselves, Classen said.

“What’s important to understand is this isn’t about placing blame on the families. The blame is the individual,” Classen said.

“These individuals groom kids, and they groom adults. These people manipulate and they take advantage of trust. They are practised liars, and their whole process is to manipulate the perceptions of the adults around them and legitimize their access to the kids.”

The centre offers programs and services to help parents who are concerned, she said.

“They can call into us. We have a child and family advocacy here, and we can connect them to services if they need services,” Classen said.

She advised parents who are worried their kids have had contact with a potential predator to watch for general changes in their behaviour.

“General changes in behaviour in a child, being more withdrawn, trouble sleeping, seeing changes in the eating patterns, in their mood, getting very agitated or depressed or a combination, withdrawing from friends — all those things are a sign of potential distress. It doesn’t mean it’s a sign a child’s been abused. It can mean a child is hurting and is struggling with something. It’s worth investigating what’s going on,” Classen said.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca