In Reflection: 2009 — One of the most violent years for our Children

2009 seems to have been an epic year on many lev­els. Change seemed to be on everyone’s lips. At the same time while the world seemed to cel­e­brate advance­ment, 2009 was a year of unpar­al­leled tragedy in the lives of many chil­dren.

Stories about chil­dren like Shaniya Davis, Elizabeth Olten and Derrion Albert made the news on an almost daily basis. I reflected on the hor­rific deaths of chil­dren in a post that I wrote this year enti­tled, “A Poem for Shaniya…and vic­tims like her.”

Although, there was one spot of uplift­ing news: the return of Jaycee Duggar after 18 years of cap­tiv­ity at the hands of a pread­tor. Even with that in mind though, our children…regardless of age, race and local­ity are los­ing their lives need­lessly at the hands of friends, fam­ily, preda­tors and peers.

1. Read the National Alert Registry’s 10 Rules for Protecting Your Children from Registered Child Offenders for a list of safety mea­sures that can be taken to help to ensure your child’s safety.

2. Search the The US Department of Justice’s The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website which is a national data­base of reg­is­tered sex offend­ers to be aware of poten­tial preda­tors in your area.

3. Visit these great sites for more infor­ma­tion on how you can pro­tect your chil­dren as well as help find miss­ing ones.

Amber Alert
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
American Humane

Thanks for read­ing,