It won't be an idyllic Christmas for all

21/12/2010

Image from www.childmatters.org.nz

This morning my 2 year old son:

Visted Santa's grotto with his grandparents and I, and we delighted in the fairytale of Christmas.
Came home and spent an hour running round the backyard naked under the sprinkler, screeching with happiness with mama and dada watching on in joy.
Ate a feast of strawberries for lunch and then snuggled in bed with me for a story defore drifting off to slumberland.

I kissed Sol sweet dreams and came to my study in a happy bubble of pre-Christmas bliss. I checked the news.

Lead story: "A 24-year-old man has appeared in court on a charge of assault after the body of a five-year-old girl was found in her Napier home early this morning."

Another story: "Child advocacy organisations are calling on those that turned a blind eye to the systematic abuse of a nine-year-old Waitakere girl to be held accountable."

More statistics to add to New Zealand's appalling child abuse record.

After a morning delighting in the happiness of my toddler, this shocked me back to reality.

Far too many kiwi kids are not spending their Christmas holidays filled with care and love. Too many children have days full of fear and pain.

I am sick of reading about the deaths of innocent children, and subsequently of the individuals that turned a blind eye to the abuse. A number of people have already admitted that they knew about the horrifying situation the 9 year old girl in Waitakere had been enduring for two years. I am sure that right now there will be many people wrestling with the guilt of not saying anything that could have saved the life of the 5 year old girl in Napier.

I wish that every child in our community could enjoy a Christmas free of violence and anger. But domestic violence surges over the festive season. So I know I will read about more violence and possibly more deaths before this festive season is over.

We all need to take responsibility for this epidemic. People are working hard, very hard to address the problem. Child Matters is one such organisation. Visit this website, read the material, support their work. And in the midst of your Christmas celebrating, do think about the many kids in our communities for whom Christmas means a very different thing than the Disney fairytale.

Maybe we all need to consider what we each can do to help in the fight against this epidemic when we are pondering our 2011 resolutions.

4 Comments

Amber

21/12/2010 05:41:03 pm

Hmmm I have something that I can do to make a difference. It's been 'on my to do list'. I'm now promising that it will be done before christmas. Thanks Rach, that is a really great call to action!

Gravey

22/12/2010 03:50:13 pm

Thank you Rachel. It can be hard to figure out what we can do to make a difference. The problem seems so big and we are so small in comparison.

But something as seemingly small as just supporting the work of Child Matters can become huge. However small a part we may play, even the smallest involvement in change is still involvement.

Spreading the word, making your opinions known, trying to change the viewpoint of just one person makes a difference.

Ever since I made the comment "ripples in the fabric of life" on Boganette's blog (and in particular after her response to it) the words have been working in my mind. And it is amazing just how our small actions can spread out and form part of a greater movement.

To me, the expectation that everybody is loving and happy at Christmas time makes the misery some people suffer even worse. It casts them further out.

I actually love the recent "It's not ok" ads. The one about the woman who is in a violent relationship brings tears to my eyes when someone finally reaches out to her. The anguish of carrying the terrible secrets is portrayed so well.

My plan for 2011 is to promote blogs and sites like these. To encourage everyone I know (and many I don't) to read. To think about these issues, and to not simply discard them.

Thank you again. You and others have given me impetus to do something. I wish it could be more, but small steps to begin with, I guess.

Rachel Hansen link

23/12/2010 03:03:29 am

Amber and Gravey - thank you for taking the time to write.
I was just talking to my husband about these issues and it is such a wonderful feeling getting comments like these - knowing that there are other people out there that share the same concerns and who are willing to stand up and say enough is enough.
Gravey - I often have the 'wish I could do more' feeling also. But I agree - small steps are good, and if everyone takes similar small steps we WILL make a difference.

Anna

4/1/2011 08:22:39 am

I really feel that we have lost the 'community spirit'. I think this problem has been able to flourish amongst this lack of community awareness. I hope that if I am not able (for any reason) then someone is watching my children. Keeping a eye on them if something seems wrong and most of all acting on that gut feeling. I really don't believe its meddling. People are still aware of bad situations children are in they just won't act. I wish people would ring the police whenever they have that 'I wonder if I should....' thought. I know I would prefer a police officer at my door to check on my child's welfare than one arriving to tell me that they have died in the most horrid of circumstances.
This is a great blog Rachel. Maybe it will make one person think about something they know and that single act could save a child from being yet another horrid statistic.

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It won't be an idyllic Christmas for all

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