Everyone must report all cases of child abuse

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong in the broken places."

-Ernest Hemingway

You are touched in ways that you know are wrong, yet there is nothing you can do about it. You are poked, prodded, fondled. And then the beating starts again.

The second punch is harder than the first, aimed at your stomach. You double over in pain, gasping for breath. You bend over, begging for air. You are kicked, stepped on, pinned down against your will. Kicked again. Pulled up by your hair. Punched. Slapped. Bruised. Beaten. Defeated.

You want to fight back. You want to defend yourself somehow, but it is impossible. Why? You look down at your body and what do you see? You are not a college student.

You are not 21 or 19. You are a child, maybe 3 years old, maybe 8 or 12. And who is this monster attacking you? Some stranger? Are you the victim of some random hate crime?

You stare at the face of your attacker, at the person who has done this to you so many times in your short life. It is not a stranger -- it is family. A relative. A father, mother, aunt, brother.

Your body, frail and fragile, gives up. You succumb to the pain, dropping to your knees and then your stomach. Your body instantly curls into a ball.

You huddle in a fetal position, letting the sobs sniffle their way out. Why? Why? You ask yourself over and over. Why?

Child abuse is one of America's hidden killers. Think this couldn't happen to you? According to Child Abuse Prevention Services (www.arbon.com/abuse), over 3.1 million children are abused or neglected each year.

One out of every four females is sexually abused by the time she is 18. One in seven males suffers the same fate. Over 2000 children die each year from this abuse.

They are beaten, bruised, prayed upon. In some cases, the abuse isn't physical or sexual, but mental and verbal. This abuse is just as detrimental to these children. The scars that remain, although not visible, never heal.

We are one big family, America. And we have a responsibility to help protect these children. They are our children; they are our future. They cannot defend themselves, and so we must.

Thousands of cases go unreported. Of those 3.1 million cases of abuse and neglect, only 90,000 are reported. We need to help save these children, and notifying the proper officials is the first step. If you know of any instance of abuse, it is your moral duty to report it and help that child.

The National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-4-A-CHILD, is open 24 hours a day. There are crisis intervention counselors available around they clock, and they want to help.

But they need you to make the first step. If you are aware of a child abuse victim, call and get that child help. Save that abused child now, before it's too late. Help the victims, save a life.

The abused children, these scarred precious humans, deserve the chance to live their lives to the fullest. After experiencing so many awful things, these children need our help. They are practically destroyed by their abusive experiences.

And, like Ernest Hemingway once said, "The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong in the broken places." With our help, the abused, the victims, can rebuild the strength that has been shattered.

Cold and scared, you continue to cry, still huddled in your tight little ball. Your body is weak and has long given up. Your wounds sting, your muscles ache. The blood has crusted to your cuts. The bruises have already started to appear.

Your mind thinks of lies to cover them up: falling down the stairs, out of bed, off your bike. You have no one to turn to, no one to confide in. No one would believe such a story: your own relatives abusing you, hurting you, destroying you.

And suddenly you see it. A shimmer of light, a brilliant glow. Reaching out to you is a hand, the hand of a friend, a teacher, someone who cares.

Slowly you offer your own weakened hand. And slowly the pain begins to heal, the physical wounds disappear, and you learn to heal the inside. And you live, you survive, you defeat.