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07/30/2002 Entry: "There's more to abuse than sex"
We're all together again. The family is complete.I've just returned from collecting our two dogs from their foster homes in Yorkshire where they were cared for during our trip to Florida. Now we have to try to settle down into a routine again.
Two stories have caught my attention in the last 24 hours. The first was a (I thought) slightly hysterical report on the BBC news about the rise in deaths from the use of Ecstasy. It seems that in 2001, some 40 teenagers in Britain died in this way - each death a tragedy that could have been avoided. But I can't help feeling that the "something must be done" reaction is out of all proportion to the situation. Official statistics show that 5000 people died in one year as a result of alcohol abuse, and the true figure may be much higher. This socially accepted drug would be a much better target for government resources.Second was a report of the vindication of two nursery nurses who had been accused of child sexual abuse 9 years ago. Child abuse is a terrible crime, but there is a sense in which it is acquiring the same status as the witchcraft of the seventeenth century - there are some who are determined to see it in every situation. Those who abuse children sexually should be caught and punished, but we need to begin to recognise that our society operates with a dreadful double standard in relation to this. At the same time as "paedophiles" are reviled and villified, our children are being dressed (by their parents) in styles which in young adults are designed to send sexual signals. As children are dressed as little adults, they are also encouraged to behave like little adults. (The sight of a four year old girl performing, complete with dance, a Madonna song in karaoke turned my stomach) Furthermore, children are being raised to believe that it is their right to have all their desires gratified instantly, without the need to consider the needs or feelings of others. For me, this constitutes child abuse itself - and is so widespread as to be considered "normal". Rant over - for the time being. I feel a campaign coming on.
