Gonzalez 1

Susana Gonzalez
Professor Olivas
English 201
20 November 2016
Children need a voice
As the days pass, children play and jump around the Mary-go-round. There are so many
children, all different sizes, ages and cultures. All have one goal, to grow up and be who they
wish to be whether its an astronaut, the next president of the United States, a teacher, anything
to contribute to change the world. Children are seen as a joy and sunshine to the world as most
people would say, they are our future. So how would you feel if between all these joyous faces
you see one specific child, sitting in the corner all alone afraid to be approached or to approach
anyone else? I would imagine some of us must feel upset and worried, asking or wondering what
is wrong with the child. There have been many reasons as to why a child is afraid to interact with
others, but one of the worst reasons is when that child is being abused and is afraid to speak up
for itself. In the short story The Silent Star by Audrey Austin, Andrew is afraid to speak up and
accuse his abuser. Children throughout the world face many sort of abuse. This abuse can be
physical or emotional. Although it is a difficult process, research shows that children can
overcome abuse through a rough process of therapy and determination. Lets be the voice of all
our children and take action to minimize and rid child abuse.
Some people are not aware of this situation because not many children speak up against
their abuser, and if they ever do, they do it much later. Child abuse is the blanket term for four

Gonzalez 2
types of child mistreatment: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect.
Mentioned in the World of Health Child abuse biography. The abuser is not limited to religious
figures as most have come out to be. Parents can abuse children, or other family members, care
takers such as teachers and babysitters, acquaintances and in some rare cases strangers (World of
Health page 1). One may not see it clearly but the sings are there and one must have
communication and build trust with the child. According to the US Department of Health and
Human Services, in 2000, 879,000 children were victims of child maltreatment; of those 10%,
sexual and 8%, psychological (World of Health page 2). In the story The Silent Star Andrew
was afraid to speak out and let his foster mother know that his foster father was sexually abusing
him. Due to the fact that children are afraid to speak out, statistics grow and more and more
children are abused and are afraid to seek help. Although children are afraid to speak out about
their abuse, there are signals that a child shows when being abused.
Some traits of sexual abuse victims are quite obvious, it just takes time for one to simply
understand and see the pattern. In order to help children, one must take initiative and help the
child who is silently crying for help. Some children have trouble being put in a situation in which
power isnt their role. For example, if you put an abused victim in a situation such as a doctor
and patient scenario, the victim will feel he or she isnt in power. This creates an uncomfortable
feeling for the victims, making him or her feel threaten. Ron Wiener, author of I am a survivor
explains that he has been in a situation similar to this one and as a child abuse survivor, he states
that being put in these situations make him feel guilt, anger, discomfort and powerless, which
make it difficult to have an adult discussion with the doctor. As we can see there are signals that
point out when something is wrong with our children even if its not abuse. Survivors also show
many signals that they have been through this difficult situation. For example, a second

Gonzalez 3
difficulty is that many survivors cope with their experience of abuse by repressing the memory
(Wiener). They may feel like simply ignoring it; might make it go away or maybe it may be too
traumatic to even speak of. These signals are there and it just takes a little more effort to pin
point them out.
Survivor if you are afraid to speak out, dont be afraid, seek help, speak so that you can
get the right help; So that you can overcome this traumatic event. Ms. Colon a survivor and main
focus in the article Abuse Survivor Wants to Counsel Girls has advice for those who have gone
through this situation or to those who currently are going through this situation. The advice I
give young teenagers whove been through what Ive been through: speak out, no matter how
much someones threatening you, (Colon). Show the signals, speak, and use your voice so that
you can be helped. Many victims are afraid even after the damage has been done fearing the
threat they had been living through will come back to haunt them.
The beginning steps or stages of recovery arent easy and survivors struggle through the
process of overcoming their trauma. Some survivors find it difficult to speak of such event, but
when they are ready to speak usually they look for comfort within experts. Some survivors tend
to overcome the traumatic event by suppressing their memories, not realizing that these
memories can come back in the future, any little thing can trigger these harmful, traumatic
memories. Although practical research is lacking, its possible for some percentage of survivors
to forget the abuse only to recall it at a later time in their lives, this is due to an inner or outer
trigger. This pushes the survivor to seek therapy.
Therapists use many methods to try and help survivors overcome their traumatic event.
One method that is used is hypnosis; this method is used to help the survivor regain full

Gonzalez 4
memories so that they can overcome them completely. Even though therapists find it helpful it is
not a reliable method. In the article Sleeping dogs dreams and repressed memories Dr. Gross
has explained how this can affect the survivors life and not only them but also their spouse.
Research has indisputably shown that probing can lead to pseudo-memories, that children and
adults are vulnerable to suggestibility, and that memories can be planted (Gross). This goes to
show that hypnosis is not an effective method to help survivors overcome their trauma. In order
for a survivor to begin to cope with the trauma the therapist must allow the survivor to move at
his or her own speed.
Critics may say that one who has encountered such traumatic event cannot overcome the
horrid event. Because, treatments such as hypnosis doesnt work; due to the theory of pseudomemories, many victims give up and lose hope. Many victims feel guilt, shame, blame, or shock.
They feel like it is their fault. They feel that this event has occurred because they caused it. This
makes is humiliating for them to speak out and ask for help. How can it be possible for a victim
to overcome such traumatic event if they are afraid to speak out? Lauren Book stated in her ted
talk, that the longer a victim takes to speak out, the more they feel trapped, isolated and hopeless.
These feelings alone make it difficult for a victim of abuse to overcome their trauma. The 24
year old woman, who was abused in her childhood, stated I will never live a day of my life
where the abuse I suffered doesnt haunt me. Proving, this type of trauma cannot ever be
forgotten or overcome by victims. Such traumatic events cannot be erased as easily as one, two,
and three. This does not necessarily have to mean that victims cannot overcome their trauma.
Although hypnosis is not an effective, one hundred percent helpful tool, survivors have
overcome their trauma through help of therapist. For example, Berry Lopez, states in his
biography Sliver of sky: confronting the trauma of sexual abuse. Therapys success for me

Gonzalez 5
was not so much my coming to understand that I had learned as a child to tolerate acts of abuse.
It was discovering a greater capacity within myself to empathize with another persons
nightmare. In order for Lopez to overcome child abuse he needed a better understanding of the
situation and the role he played in it. Sometimes all a survivor needs to do is speak out.
Speaking out and telling the truth has given me the strength and closure beyond words, but I
will never forget, says 24 year old survivor in the article I own you: Australian parents
sentenced after abusing daughter for 15 years. Although this survivor, lived this trauma she was
able to overcome her abuse, she states that what helped her was speaking out; yes she will have
moments where she will recall these traumatic events but now she can live her life knowing that
justice was made once she spoke out. One cannot truly forget or rid the memories of the past
events but they can overcome them to live a life at peace.
Its true researches have said that the after math of child abuse has a lifelong
consequence. For example, in the biography of Child abuse research shows that children and
adolescents are more likely, for instance, to do poorly in school, suffer emotional problems,
develop an antisocial personality, become promiscuous, abuse drugs and alcohol, and attempt
suicide. All these are consequences of child abuse, so how can one possibly think a child can
overcome child abuse? Well child abuse has the traumatic affective of damaging a person just
like any other type of abuse such as alcoholic or drug abuse. Whats the most common way
people have fought through these types of dramatic events? Its to seek help and wanting help. In
the short story The Silent Star Andrew has fallen with the wrong crowd. He began to make
wrong choices ever since his child abuse came into the picture. But Andrew wanted help; he was
able to find help through his wife Rose. Many survivors have spouses that are their support; they
help survivors overcome this horrific obstacle. Ms. Colon is a great example.

Gonzalez 6
Many people join support groups and rehabilitation centers. For example, Ms. Colon a
survivor who overcame her abuse was taking counseling under the help of Brooklyn Community
Services, provided by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. She was also able to find help
with in her husband; he was very supportive of her. She has stated I wont let my past get in my
way; she also said Im going to move forward from that. Ms. Colon has been able to move
forward because of her hard work and determination. Many survivors have stated that once they
have spoken out on their traumatic event, they have been able to get the help they need in order
to move past that point of their lives.
Some methods one can take or begin to take to avoid or prevent child abuse are educating
and building trust with the child. One affective way to prevent child abuse is by putting it out
there in our society, meaning giving it importance. Informing our communities that its a huge
issue, and there are actions that one needs to take in order to change the world for all children,
not just the children that go through traumatic events. Child abuse mentions in World of
Health, demonstrates some actions one can take in order to prevent child abuse. The government
efforts to prevent abuse are one, a home-visitor program. This is aimed to for high-risk families
and school-based programs, so that they can teach, educate children how to respond to attempted
sexual abuse or any other kind of abuse mentioned in this section of the book. The book
mentions four types of abuse; one must keep all abuse cases in mind when putting this method to
practice.
Another method that can be put to practice, is when the child reaches a certain age in the
case of this book age 3, parents should start educating the children about bad touches and how
to seek for help if they feel they are being harmed or put in a situation where they feel uneasy.
These methods are leaning more towards parents especially because as parents its a

Gonzalez 7
responsibility to keep your child safe. Another method a parent can put to use is, when hiring a
babysitter or caregiver of some type is to be cautious and take your time. Review the history,
meaning their background information and experience thoroughly. Parents or caregivers,
babysitters, or general public if you suspect abuse you should report it immediately; you can save
a childs childhood, a childs innocence, or even a childs life.
Parents if your child is a victim or was a victim of child abuse of any sort seek help, there
are many resources that can help your child begin to process what has occurred to them. For
example, The World of Health, suggest Round-the-clock crisis counseling for children and
adults, this is offered by the Child help USA foundation. There are also many other resources
that can help a child or adult that has gone through abuse. There is an online source that can help
anyone really to research and become informed about child abuse. The source is
www.preventchildabuse.org with this site one can become informed; its also a source for those
who are or were being abused. This is a source on many other sources that can help victims,
sources such as support groups and other organizations that will hell any abused or at risk of
abuse. In order to make these sources useful and to be used we must all be aware and alert of the
children and families around us. Even with just observing your neighbor or co-worker you can
make a difference in preventing or helping a child, adult or family in need.
Change can only occur if everyone units together to prevent and stop child abuse.
Become educated and seek ways in which you can contribute to the cause. It is possible to help
those who have already gone through child abuse. If you know someone who has gone through
this traumatic even simply direct them to a support group, or help them search for possible
resources. If the victim is afraid to speak, let them know that you are there and are whiling to
listen. Child abuse can be prevented and in some advance cases put to a stop. Lets gain power to

Gonzalez 8
end this traumatic event. Those who have gone through it can overcome Child abuse, if the
survivor seeks help and id whiling to go through the difficult process it is to overcome this
traumatic event. Although survivors need is someone to guide or listen be that change.

Gonzalez 9
Works Cited
Bever, Lindsey. I own you: Australian parents sentenced after abusing daughter for 15 years.
The Washington Post, 29 October 2016, from opposing viewpoints in context.
Book, Lauren. From Victim to Survivor: Find Your X but First Your (Wh)y?
TED.May.4.2016.Lecture.
World of Health, Child abuse. ,Gale, 2000. Biography in Context,
Gross, Bruce. Sleeping dogs dreams and repressed memories. Annals of the American
Psychotherapy Association, Fall 2004, p. 43+. Academic OneFile.
Lopez, Barry. "Sliver of sky: confronting the trauma of sexual abuse." Irish Pages: A Journal of
Contemporary Writing, Autumn-Winter 2014, p. 24+. Literature Resource Center,
Warren, Mathew R. abuse Survivor Wants to Counsel Girls. The New York Times, 2 January
2012.

Weiner, Ron. I am a survivor. British Medical Journal, 16 September 1995, p.758. Academic
OneFile.