Watching out for child abuse key as summer nears
By Jenna Wilson
Local advocates are continuing to shed light on the issue of child abuse and exploitation in Buchanan County as summer approaches.
St. Joseph’s Voices of Courage Child Advocacy Center held a 2024 Courage Conference on Tuesday to discuss the prevalence of trafficking, online sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse children are facing nationwide and locally.
“This is something we do to honor Child Abuse Prevention Month along with Crime Victim Rights Week,” said Melissa Birdsell, executive director of Voices of Courage. “It’s very important that we’re sharing this information on the abuse children are facing and how we should be reacting as parents, adults and a community for the protection and safety of our children.”
There has been an ever-increasing amount of online activity by people seeking to contact and exploit children and teens. With the rise in AI technology, experts say the online child abuse problem is only expected to become worse, as predators know they can target children more during the summer.
“Kids have a lot more time in the summer and so they’re spending more time online as they may be more unsupervised,” Birdsell said. “Unfortunately, they just have a way of stumbling into trouble online and one of the things we learned here today is that they’re using AI to increase their productivity.”
Parents shouldn’t be afraid to let their children use technology, but it is something that should be monitored by adults to reduce the chances of a child falling victim to crimes.
“We can’t be mad at kids and we can’t be mad at technology because it’s a wonderful thing when used properly,” Birdsell said. “What we can do is just let kids know it’s okay to tell somebody if you’ve gotten yourself in over your head and find that person that you can tell who’s going to be able to help.”
Caregivers should be mindful of the different signs of child abuse and grooming this time of year, which can include a child being secretive about how they’re spending their time, a child being more withdrawn than usual and showing an interest in underage drinking or drug taking.
