Boy Scouts Scandal: Safety Through Speaking Out

Sunday's Los Angeles Times exposé on sexual abuse within the Boy Scouts of America sounds the wake-up call to break through the silence and stigma by any means necessary.
 
Aug. 6, 2012 - PRLog -- Another time-honored institution. Another sexual abuse cover-up.

The incendiary exposé in Sunday's Los Angeles Times documenting repeat child abuse within the ranks of the Boy Scouts is just the latest example of institutions which engage in cover-ups of the worst type. Are our children safe anywhere? From the Catholic church, to university sports programs, to our public schools and elsewhere, why the cover-up? Why the secrecy? Why does it take a scandal for institutions to finally act to protect our children?

"It truly boggles the mind how those who are entrusted to assist with the intellectual, spiritual and character formation of our children, insist on engaging in obfuscation instead of transparency," says screenwriter Jamison Leigh, writer of The Life of Riley, a short film about an Olympic athlete dealing with the trauma of childhood sexual abuse. "You would think that each of these institutions who are supposedly pantheons of morality wouldn't engage in cover up and look the other way in dealing with the worst moral transgression this side of murder -- the theft of a child's innocence."

It seems with every passing day that we are hurtling toward a crisis in confidence in our institutions that prefer engaging in a code silence and the saving of face, and maintaining their financial status, over the safety of our children.

The author of a recent article on a conservative slanted website lamented the silence of the gay community when it came to sexual predators engaging in "homosexual acts" on their children. "This perspective is short-sighted and dangerous," says Leigh. "Predators come in all shapes, sizes, sexes, and sexual orientation. A straight predator can groom a child just as much as a a gay predator. We need to stop the finger pointing, accept the fallibility of our institutions, hold those who engage in cover-ups accountable, and create a climate where children can talk about the bad things that happen to them not be shamed into silence. It's only too obvious that our society's approach to addressing child molestation by inaction and silence is not working."

To combat the stigma and the silence in dealing with the subject of child sexual abuse, Leigh has written The Life of Riley and the feature film Strong Men and will go into production in late August. Despite a lack of funding, Leigh's commitment to being part of the solution instead of being a silent partner in the continual cover-up on the part of our society's institutions. "Our children can't wait," says Leigh. "We need to do a better job of protecting them now."

For more information, contact info@strongmenfilm.com and to contribute to the film project, please visit indiegogo.com/thelifeofriley .
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