It makes sense to ME!!!

Common sense.
Anybody out there with any extra?
Could I borrow some to give out to Tennessee?
Good grief, people. If you have a doubt in your brain that a child is being abused... more than likely, it's happening. So.. you think something has happened to Billy.. what next? What are the steps? Call the doctor? NO, not necessarily. Your primary physician is not capable of handling child abuse cases. (neither physical nor sexual abuse) Call the perpetrator?? Absolutely not. UNLESS, you want all evidence to be destroyed and a missing perpetrator headed to Mexico. Call all of your family? Probably not a good idea either. It is important that the child not be asked over and over and over again about what happened - Just as adults don't like to relive uncomfortable and sometimes painful memories. Take the kid to a hospital? Woah! Ding ding ding! If the incident has happened within 72 hours, more than likely there is still some valid physical evidence that a forensic medical doctor can salvage for prosecution. If it has happened, say, 3 weeks ago... call the Department of Children's Services/or the Police. Please, please, please believe your children/your neighbors children/your brothers' children/your students/your cousins. There were over 1,000 cases reported in my county alone last year.. and these were just the reported cases. I, myself, have probably convinced 400 people to call the police and report abuse. These are the people that call our office on a daily basis to ask me if "fill in blank" should be reported or not. The answer is almost always "YES!" So, to sum up my rant... if there is suspicion that something has happened to a child, then it probably has. AND, by not reporting it.. you could be held legally responsible for NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT. If you know a child in this situation and need assistance, please do not hesitate to ask me. Please. It happens every single day. Every. Day.
(Perhaps you can tell that I just spent an hour on the phone with a woman who's son was CLEARLY being sexually abused by his Uncle? I spent that hour trying to convince the woman that she needed to call 9-1-1, until finally I did it myself.) Ughh.

And, now.. I promise to write a more cheery blog later today. I feel better.
Love and Happiness,
Trina