Does anyone remember that tune? The upbeat melody encouraged everyone who heard it to take time to go to the theater and watch a motion picture. On Sunday, February 28th the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented the Oscars to those deserving of acknowledgement for the quality and excellence of their work. The winner for Best Picture was “Spotlight” the story of the investigative reporting that eventually shined a light on the sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Shining a spotlight on the problem of child sexual abuse is a good thing. However, it is important that we get the “real” message here. The problem is child sexual abuse, not the Catholic Church.
One of the winners said that one of their goals was for the story to be heard all the way to the Vatican. I have a bigger goal. I want the story heard all the way to New Orleans and San Francisco and Tulsa and Viet Nam, and Saudi Arabia, and Dubai and Ethiopia, and everywhere else that there are survivors of child sexual abuse and vulnerable children at the mercy of skilled, charismatic predators. The ultimate objective is a world without child sexual abuse.
Many people will now see this movie and, as is typical for many people, they will talk about what a terrible thing it was that there was so much child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. They will consider “priests” as the problem and some will even take themselves away from the practice of their Catholic faith. However, the real long-term value of this story is that it focused that spotlight on a problem that children have been dealing with virtually on their own for centuries.
Priests don’t molest children – predators do! People who have a desired to have sexual, romantic, and inappropriate social relationships with children and do not do something to stop themselves from acting on those desires are the problem. They groom children and families. They cultivate community relationships in their effort to create and support an environment that allows them to operate undetected. The ultimate value of the crisis in the Catholic church is that it raised the issue of child sexual abuse in a very public and visible way and showed the impact on the lives of real people that we come in contact with every day.
Everyone should see the movie and then get make it priority to find out how they can stop these predators from every hurting a child again. There are a few programs that provide that for adults. If you want to know about them, contact us. We can give you an overview of all the programs we are familiar with that focus on this new approach to educating adults. This is the future of safe environments for your children. Take time to learn about it and how you can be part of the solution.