Clarifying Ginnie's community efforts

To the Editor, I would like to thank Stacey Mason for the wonderful article regarding Ginnie’s House, Sussex County Children’s Advocacy Center. After reading the article, I wanted to clarify one item. Ms. Mason and I discussed many topics regarding children and abuse, including prevention and intervention. The description Ms. Mason provided regarding the feeling of abuse being like a child taking a cookie when asked not to may have been misunderstood. The feeling of abuse is much more intense then the guilt a child might feel when taking something they shouldn’t; the feelings of betrayal, guilt, sadness and culpability may be beyond words. The intention in using the example was to describe some strategies in prevention with children in all areas. We talk with children about the “uh oh” feeling, and the description of taking a cookie after your mother said not to is a method to start to get children to pay attention to the feeling of “uh oh.” Children may eventually be able to generalize this in many situations, including potentially risky situations with friends (i.e., cigarette smoking, underage drinking), or even potentially dangerous situations, such as the “uh oh” feeling if someone does not feel safe around another person. Always, without exception, we educate children that if someone were to touch them inappropriately, it is not their fault. Some children, despite education received at home and in school, are simply unable to say “no.” We must encourage them to tell, no matter what, and support them for telling. Finally, I just wanted to clarify the contact information for Ginnie’s House. Our Web site is www.ginnieshouse.org and for information regarding the auction you may email us at auction@ginnieshouse.org. Once again, thank you for sharing information regarding the mission and services of Ginnie’s House. We work as a team to respond to the needs of children and families affected by abuse, and we cannot do it without the support of the community. Rachel T. Heath, L.C.S.W. Executive Director