S.E.S.A.M.E. Board of Advisors Member, Bob Shoop, Ph.D. delivers conference keynote address. (Video below)
Article originally published:
By Scott O'Connell/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Nov 20, 2013 @ 06:36 AM
FRAMINGHAM —
Sex abuse prevention experts on Tuesday called for systemic changes to the way educators, youth service workers and others fight the scourge of child molestation.
Speakers at the Massachusetts Citizens for Children's prevention summit at the Framingham Sheraton specifically advocated for more effective ways of reporting suspected abuse.
While the obstacles in the way of the effort to prevent the pervasive crimes can be discouraging, "we believe we're nearing a tipping point," said Jetta Bernier, the organization's Executive Director.
"My message to you this morning is let's make history today," she said to the approximately 100 attendees, many of whom work in schools, youth programs, or other child service roles.
The day-long summit, presented as an opportunity for professionals to network and discuss ways to fight child sex abuse, kicked off with a short video that provided statistics showing the magnitude of the problem, including the fact that there are 39 million people in the country who are victims of childhood sexual mistreatment.
A major contributor to that number are the inadequacies in the system established to address the issue, said keynote speaker Robert Shoop, co-founder of the School of Leadership Studies and Director of the Cargill Center for Ethical Leadership at Kansas State University
Prevention Summit Keynote: Robert Shoop, PhD from HM Action Coalition on Vimeo.
For more information, visit www.enoughabuse.org.