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PAGE SEVEN 11 I ~i ABUSTNG STATISTICS Two Sundays ago a United Church minister got himself on the national news with a sermon which advocated the castration of aduits wbo sexually abuse children. That's pretty strong medicine ..especially since bie sermon was based on the statistjc that 25 per cent of children are victims of sexual abuse. The same week a jury in California concluded the Iongest trial in U.S. history with the acquittai. of Ray Buckey and bis inother who were accused of gross sexual abuse at a private day-care they had operated. For close to a year now, we have also been watching excerpts from the inquiry into sexual abuse of orphaned boys at the Mt. Cashel monastery in Newfoundland. And then there was the male university teacher who was convicted of 'leering' at a female student. It is a safe assumption that our society today is no more perverted than any other generation, but we sure are a lot more willing to talk about it. The statistic that 25% of children are victims of sexual abuse is a rather startling figure - and flot particularly believable. Similar statistics I have seen have been based on incredibly broad definitions. The law provides that any formn of unwanted or unsolicited physical contact, no matter how harmnless can be defined as assault.- Sexual assault is any form of such contact that bas a sexual context. An unwanted kiss can be sexual assault. Wben John Turner was patting women's bebinds during the 1984 election campaign, be could have been charged witb sexual assault even tbougb no harmn was intended or resulted. Those pats were' clearly unwanted and clearly sexua]ly oriented. (He wasn't patting men's behinds.) Since most alleged cbild niolestation is done by parents, and nmen are playing increasing roles in bringing up their cbildren, broad definitions can lead to wildly inaccurate figures. (Men even change tbeir daugbters' diapers - do tbey run the risk of being accused of sexual assault? Maybe kids sbould learn to change their own diapers in order to protect their cbastity.) Probably the clearest indication of bow far wrong the statistics are is the lack of prosecutions, wbicb, 'altbough bighly publicized, are few and far between. If you look for sometbing hard enougb, you're going to find it, whether it's there or not, and tbe social workers wbo bave investigated abuse cases tbrougb the-years bave tended to draw conclusions wbich could not be substantiated under rules of evidence. Ail. the concepts of early childhood education are based on the cbild as a vacuum tbirsting to be filled witb knowledge - the earlier you start, the fewer the inhibitions. Suggesting to a cbild that he/she may bave been abused, especially if coupled witb a reward for revealing the 'truth', will lead ta embellishments and fantasies wbich become trutbs. The Buckeys were acquitted because the jury concluded that very little, if any, of the evidence was untainted. Altbougb some jurors said tbey believed that something had bappened, they did not know what. Two child welfare cases in Ontario in the last few years included graphic testimony of satanic rites, ritual murders, and graveyard orgies yet no corroborating evidence could be found. Did these children watch a late-night horror flic or did sometbing really happen? Young cbildren don't differentiate reality ftrm fantasy. Until they learn the difference, tbey are impressionable sponges. Every parent who bas watched their children grow up can attest ta their wild imaginations. Mickey and Minnie Mouse were far more than cartoon. characters to my two daughters. Tbey were imaginary invisible playmnates wbo ate with them, slept with them, consoled themn and wept with tbem. These invisible fiends could be placed on a chair and, hours later when you were about to sit down, you would be shrieked at just as you were about ta squash their invisible friends. Trying to find reality amidst such fantasy is iiext to impossible, especially on a subject as difficult as sexuallity, which children *know nothing about and even adulte bave trouble coping with. Certainly, there is sexual abuse of children - we see the evidence froin time ta time, such as the Mt. Cashel orpha- nage - but it's not an epidemic. The amount of so-called child abuse bas probably changed, very little throueh the millenia, andJ yet-nAynow-reIe-rc-gnzin-tha-ite1 .at.il.It e e e e I .5] i e' 'T M 'M MUR a 311 BROCK STRET LOOKING SOUTH nRom THE ROYAL fflMEL C. 1918 Trýees once grew in front of the Royal Hotel and heavy trafice on Brock Streetasahigc the future. Nétice the Coca-Cola ign advertising the drnk at five cents a ottle. WhIt1w Aridamiw.pIo from the Wedesd February 6, 1980 edition of the W y RE19PRESS Whitby Jacees presented $1,000 te the Multiple Sclerosisoce. Saints Rouer Skating Centre will open on Feb. 8 . Iàberal candidate Deug Dickerson says GO :Transit will not be extended to Oshawa because cf high ceets. Fire losses in 1979 arnounted ta $272,000. 25 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, February 4., 1965 edition cf the WITBY WZICIKJy NEWS Whitby has been omitted from a new Ontario Highways map. The Weekly News is net pleased about this. roronto lawyer Arthur Maloney will speak on the abolition of capital punishrnent at (athleen Pýpwe School on Feb. 22. )esnond Newman is chairman cf the Wihitby St. John Ambulance Ceuncij. %ie trucks will be moved inta the new fire hall at Brock and Coiborne Streets on Feb. 8. 1251TEAUs AGO from the Thursday, Februaryr 2,1865 edition of the WIUT13T CHRONICLC lie first annual bail of the Whitby »eluge Fire Company will be held on Feb. 9 at the [echanics' Institute hall. eturning offiers at the recent municipal election were paid four dollar a day. lary AmiBrwn cousin Of Whitby' Mayor' Nicholas W. Brown, was miarried at the layoa9 home on Jan. 30, ta, Henry C.4 farr of Markham. atew CoUlinsais selling boots and slhoes frein bis neW store on Brock Streèt North.