Stories of Hope

These are stories that are representative of the children we work with every day at ChildSafe.

My Advice To Other Kids That Have Been Abused

I am 10 year old girl and I am in the Fourth grade. I have a dog and a little brother. I love my dog Joey and my brother Tim is ok most of the time. When I was in the second grade my uncle started waking me up at night. He was always trying to touch me. I used to pretend I was asleep and I always slept w/ my gym shorts on. Sometimes I would try and sleep on the floor to hide from him, but he always found me. I wanted him to stop, but my dad loved his brother so much I was afraid to tell. I felt like I was in the middle. I had a hard time sleeping & I was mean to my little brother. I was always grouchy.

One day I was on the back porch with my cousin and I told her I hated my uncle. When she asked why, I told her the truth. She told her mom and her mom told mine. At first I was mad at her, now I am glad. At first all the adults were crying or very angry. But they also told me they knew it wasn’t my fault. I don’t like when people feel sorry for me, but the adults were angry at my uncle not me.

At first I didn’t want to go to counseling. I didn’t want to talk about it any more. But now I’m used to counseling. My mom only cries a little bit now. Some nights I still have trouble sleeping, but it’s getting better. Now I understand that I was little then and couldn’t protect myself. Now I know a better way. The better way is to just TELL someone. My counselor told me my uncle would have never stopped touching me if I hadn’t told and I guess she’s right. So my advice to other kids is to be brave and TELL an adult. I’d also tell them not to fight with their brother so much and you can still have fun even if something bad happens to you.

What Helped Me Feel Better

I’m Rachael, and I’m 14 years old. I was raped by my mom’s boyfriend for three years. It made me so angry that I stopped caring about myself or other people. I didn’t tell my mom until I found out that it had happened to my little sister. I felt like it was my fault it happened to her because if I would have told maybe it wouldn’t have happened. I did not want to go to counseling and I thought I would hate it and hate talking about what happened to me. Once I got to know my counselor a little bit, I felt better talking to her because I felt I could trust her. I still haven’t told my friends or my grandma because I’m afraid what they’ll think of me. But I know that my counselor won’t judge me. I know she won’t tell other people about me and that she knows what it’s like for kids like me. My advice to another teenager who has been through this would be to talk to someone you trust. It helps to know there is someone out there who can encourage you and help you feel better. I learned I didn’t always have to keep my anger and frustration to myself and that I’ll feel better and be nicer to others if I can talk about my issues. I also learned that exercising helps me blow off steam when I’m mad so I started playing softball and running track. My mom and I still have some problems because of what happened but we’re working on them. I still wish I would have told sooner but now I know my abuse and my sister’s abuse was only his fault and not mine. Our whole family needs help but we’re slowly rebuilding our lives. I have hope for the future.