'Je suis abusé' - Creating a world without 'Charlie'

Mark Douglas

The radical attacks in Paris touched the world. In hopes of minimizing the pain, people around the world, in the streets, in parks, and in the virtual commons of Facebook, declared “Je suis Charlie” — “I AM Charlie.”

Recently, as we’ve learned more about the attackers, it has come to light that the Kouachi brothers shared a hauntingly familiar background: homeless, abused, neglected, in-and-out of foster care, orphaned with no family, and ultimately graduating into prison and a culture of incarceration and marginalization. Considering this background, to me the attack seems to bear more marks of society’s inability to protect its most vulnerable members — its children — than it does of the global war on terror.

I am not suggesting that there was anything unavoidable about the process that led the Kouachi brothers to attack the offices of Charlie Hebdo, any more than I am suggesting that our child welfare system is primed to produce domestic terrorists. Just writing those things reveals their patent insanity.

However, I cannot but look backward from the attack and know that there had to have been countless instances where a single caring adult could have intervened in those boys’ lives and changed the future, both theirs and ours.

While the war on terror feels abstract and distant, the abuse and neglect which marked the Kouachi brothers’ youth are present in our own community, and while there is little we can do to impact the spread of radicalism, there are simple things average folks like you and me can do to impact the lives of children sharing similar trials to those faced by those brothers half a world away.

Judges, social workers, lawyers, therapists, counselors, doctors and so many more have professional parts to play to protect our children, but there is much more to be done. Studies reveal that an interested, uncompensated adult is the single most powerful factor which can positively impact children who have been through the trauma of abuse and neglect. Maybe it is a child in the neighborhood whom you notice and mentor. Perhaps you meet them in your work as a teacher or in church and you go out of your way to connect with them. You might be led to foster children while they go through ‘the system.’ Possibly you would like a bit more structure to do this work, and you should become a Court Appointed Special Advocate, a CASA.

Fifteen heroic individuals in our community have committed themselves to serving our most vulnerable children through CASA. They commit to being a voice for children who otherwise might have no voice. They work with the professionals in the system, monitoring, investigating, interviewing, and advocating. They show these children respect, giving them the dignity they deserve and, in the best of situations, they teach these children that they have power and agency and that they can control their environment.

We may not be able to stem the rising tide of radicalism but, by protecting and promoting children who have already suffered trauma, we can all play a part in creating a more caring world.

If you would like to play a part in creating a better world by advocating for our most valuable and vulnerable assets — our children — a new Advocate pre-service training class begins Feb. 2.

Contact Mark Douglas at 265-6743 or [email protected] for more information. Or join us for CASA’s monthly meeting Monday, Feb. 2, at 6:30 p.m. in the HRDC Board Room.

(Mark Douglas is executive director of CASA of Hill County.)