Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Sunday, April 26, 2009

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NJ: Mother's Day has become a tradition whereby we celebrate those who are our biological, adoptive and unofficial mothers; the women who provide us with care, love and encouragement, especially when times are rough. It's a tradition that dates back to 1907 when a school teacher, Anna M. Jarvis, decided that mothers needed to be honored. President Woodrow Wilson made it an officially recognized national holiday that falls on the second Sunday in May.

Today, the card and flower industries look forward to a peak time for sales each year. We do buy a lot of each and it does add to the national economy as well as letting our mothers know we love and appreciate them. The number of cards given or sent runs into the millions.

Mothers love their children and this is the one day to express the sentiment in return, but why can't we give a special gift this year; the gift of child safety in the name of our mothers? Rather than sending flowers, why can't we begin to, in the name of all our mothers present, future and past, start a campaign that will, in one small way, protect the children of those mothers?

Too often, we hear of children being sexually assaulted, not once, but over years by people in the public trust; teachers, pediatricians, dentists, coaches, choir directors, physical health instructors, martial arts people, newspaper route supervisors, daycare workers, etc. What do they all have in common besides the fact that they have easy access to children and they've assaulted children? The one thing they all lack is membership in a nationally registry for persons who work with children. What would be the problem if we began to fingerprint people who worked with children and made this information available nationally? Some states have begun to fingerprint anyone who holds a license, but who of these potential offenders isn't a holder of any license? Far too many of them.

Who checks the background of a potential teacher or coach or even someone who offers to provide science, computer training or music lessons for a child? There doesn't appear to be a carefully constructed database for compiling credentials. What would be the problem in having people sign up for such a database? Are we that concerned about a Big Brother problem that we won't do something more for the kids? Canada has such a database, but it's only for coaches for certain youngsters' sports. Perhaps they've broadened it, but I haven't heard.

Remember, pedophiles are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. How else could they be so successful at their criminality if they weren't able to 'sell' themselves to everyone from legal authorities to parents and school districts? They are neat, have good manners, appear to have a loving interest in children and quickly gain the trust of the adults and the children. You might say they're the best human chameleons we've ever seen.

With the economy in such desperate straits, more and more communities will be hard pressed to pay for after-school programs manned by teachers or run other programs with salaried personnel. The ground couldn't be more fertile for this type of abuse.

So, this year, let's give mom the present of child safety. Ask her and see how she feels about it.

http://www.drfarrell.net?

Patricia A. Farrell, Ph.D.

Licensed Psychologist

Patricia A. Farrell, Ph.D., LLC

Englewood Cliffs, NJ