A Call for Change

Something has got to give. International child abuse has been an epidemic for centuries, yet there is still a reluctance among the general public to take action against the abuse. As Americans, we are a product of the media, and the majority of the information we have about these important issues is limited to the occasional newspaper article. The articles are usually brief and feature child soldiers in Sierra Leone. The public loves the heartwrenching stories of children from movies like Slumdog Millionaire which follows an orphan through his struggles in poverty and unexpectedly gets lucky and stumbles upon an unrealistic sum of money, living happily ever after. The reality is that there is no happily every after for most of these children and the public knows that, yet they are complacent.

In order to understand how the public percieves and reacts to the current international child abuse charities, we conducted an informal survey. The resullts showed that 80 % of the particpants were aware of the problem of child soldiers in Africa when asked what kind of abuse they were aware of. Yet again, when participants were asked whether or not they have donated to an international child abuse organization, 80% said NO. The issue isn't whether or not people are aware of the issues. They see the commercials, get those phone calls, and pass those billboards. It's a matter of mankind not being drawn to action. Something is missing, a key ingredient in this recipe for peace for all children. The answer is a lack of knowledge on the issues.

People are aware of many of the problems around globe, but they don't have an extensive grasp on what the charities do, and what problems are being focused on by the different organizations. One participant in the survey was quoted as saying, "I feel silly giving money to something I know nothing about." Especially in these hard economic times, people are more reluctant to donate money or sponsor children, which makes organizations have to work extra hard to persuade the public. Other participants are skeptical about donating to international organizations because they can't see where their money is going. They would rather donate to local charities. While that is a reasonable concern, it does not justify the inaction that plagues today's society.

The public needs to have access to the knowledge about these international organizations. That is our goal. By creating this blog, we hope to give people a place where they can research and learn more about the different issues and causes out there. Every person can find a cause that he or she is passionate about and seek it out, instead of the organizations seeking you out, and you responding in a repelling way. In the survey, one participant was quoted as saying, "I definately don't like the phone calls because their voices are so boring most of the time, or they're really hard to understand. I don't really like being approached coming out of a grocery store either." We need to create a place where individuals can seek out at their own convenience the issues, causes and the different ways they can help. That is why we created this International Child Abuse blog.