Friday, March 28, 2008

The Importance of a Supportive Community

There have been a few high publicity cases of severe child abuse in Israel recently. In at least two of them acquaintances and neighbors all said "they had no idea". It makes you wonder how many more are out there undiscovered, with children suffering in silence.

My friend A Mother In Israel has managed to turn these children's tragedy from an item on the evening news into a valuable lesson for all of us - the paramount importance of a supportive and involved community. Read her excellent post about what we can each do personally to strengthen our communities and reach out to families in need. Maybe one act of caring is all it will take to prevent a tragedy later.

10 comments:

Nancy said...

The subject of child abuse turns my stomach.

What turns is more is when people, especially ones with children, are so blind and clueless to it.

I don't want people to be paranoid, just VERY aware.

Tank you for the post and link Robin.

Nancy said...

*Thank ... oops!

UL said...

hey Robin there's a little gift awaiting you at my site, hope you will like it...i havent had a chance to read your newer posts, but hope to be back..

LaLa said...

I know what you mean....I guess we really don't know what goes on "behind closed doors" and that is scary. Heading over to read the post.

Phyllis Sommer said...

yes, i saw her post too and it was excellent. this last case is just terrible...
on a lighter note - i saw you won scribbit's contest! congrats! (i'm just now catching up on my feeds after the trip...oy)

Anonymous said...

The subject of child abuse really makes me angry. Everyone should be aware and report any suspected case to the authorities immediately. Everytime a child abuse case is announced in the news in Japan(it is rampant there), I just can't believe how the neighbors had been so naive - especially cases where it could have been prevented.

Gill said...

It frightens me to think that kids suffer in silence. That is scary.
Off to hug my kids now, bye!!!
xox

Amanda said...

Thanks for pointing to that post; what an enriching read. When I get wrapped up in my own life it's easy to forget to reach out to neighbors and acquaintences, and not just your inner circle.

mother in israel said...

Thanks, Robin, for linking, and to all of you for the positive comments. Phyllis, did you notice that I linked to you in the post before this one?

Shannon said...

This is a wonderful post and something that I am guilty of for sure. I tend to keep to myself in my community. A couple of years ago we had a family in our neighborhood that were a little odd. I had a terrible feeling that something was not right with the mother. I opened my home to her children in hopes of at least giving them a safe place to go for a couple of hours a week. They have since moved away and I wonder about those kids still.

Children need the support of a community but so do parents. We live in such a solitary society.