Sexual Abuse Prevention Training Sept. 26

Anthony Calcia, vice president for child protection and social responsibility at the Hockomock Area YMCA, invites parents, community leaders school personell and church officials to attend a child sexual abuse training session on Monday, Sept. 26. Two sessions, one at noon and one at 7 p.m., will be held at the from the organization Darkness to Light.

Calcia said that statisically, one in four girls  and one in six boys are sexual abused before they become 18.

"Unfortunately, child sexual abuse in our country is what I would call an epidemic situation," he said.

Calcia said that 90 percent of the child that are abused are aware of the abuse, and do not speak out most times because the person committing the act is a family member, a trusted family friend or an official. He said the median age of a victim is 9-years-old.

"It's a real problem and as a community, we need to do something about it," he said. "That's what Darkness to Light advocates, a community approach. As adults, we have the power to affect and determine the environment our kids grow up in."

The Darkness to Light program focuses on prevention. One of the main methods of prevention stated on the organization's Web site is to minimize any one-on-one contact between a minor and an adult. Calcia said that people should act on their suspicians immediately.

"With this type of issue, there's a lot of fear in getting involved because you don't want to be wrong," he said. "It's better to be wrong than to be sorry."

Darkness to Light was started about a decade ago by Anne Lee, who is now the organization's president. The organization started in South Carolina, and now operates in 49 U.S. states and 27 other countries.