Protecting Children from Monsters

I knew from the age of 5 I wanted to dedicate my life to the betterment of children, because adults always seemed to be working for the betterment of adults, and I wanted to always do what was best for kids.

The news since Friday has been saturated with the awful, evil, things done to children by powerful individuals. The silver lining is many people are outraged, and calling for the punishment of the predators.

And it’s heartbreaking to realize that this is even more pervasive than the Epstein files.

If you’re willing to boycott and banish everyone named in the files, what about the works of C. S. Lewis who wrote Alice in Wonderland? What about Elvis Presley’s music? Paul Walker from Fast and the Furious franchise? Yes, I know they are all deceased.

Harvey Weinstein’s predatory behaviour to women was an open secret and he went unpunished for decades. Well Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chili Peppers has gone on tour as recently as 2024. Steven Tyler from Aerosmith was also on tour in 2024.

Oh, that’s just rock and roll? Well Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Brett Ratner, and Bryan Singer are still making movies.

What about Bridgette Macron, who as a teacher, started dating her student Emmanuel? And now he’s the President of France.

What about most of our grandmothers who married at 16?

You might have heard that historically, “that’s the way it was back then.” But it’s still ongoing. Child marriage is an epidemic, with over 30% of children being married before the age of 18 in Bangladesh, and 60% in Central African Republic. Currently in Sudan, sexual violence is being used as a war tactic against children.

In Canada, 1 in 4 girls, and 1 in 9 boys will be sexually abused. And the majority of sexual abuse is not done by rockstars and politicians, it’s done by family members, neighbours, and family friends. The majority of survivors don’t report it.

So how can we protect children?

1. Sexual education about consent in public schools makes a difference. Teaching young elementary children about body autonomy, boundaries, and what to do if someone crosses a boundary makes a difference. Children who receive this training are more likely to seek out help. This is why sexual education matters. This is why when conservatives want to ban sex ed, it makes my skin crawl, because they want children uninformed.

2. Adults who work with children should always been screened with police check and vulnerable person checks. But that’s not enough. Any confined space, office, camp cabin, changing area, should have a two adult rule, requiring two adults to always be present, and adults should not be one-on-one with children in organizations (a teacher with a classroom with multiple kids is fine, better if there’s a window or open door).

3. Stay angry. When serious allegations come out about an individual, we need to take them serious, and not just give them a pass. So when there’s credible knowledge that Jerry Seinfeld, Milo Ventimiglia (This is Us), Drake, Jimmy Page (Led Zepplin), or Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones), why do people still go to their shows and watch their performances?

Now that you now, would you still support them?