In last week’s SATURDAISIES, I introduced you to a good friend of mine, Sharon, who was able to change her self-perception of being a victim due to years of sexual abuse to being able to identify herself as a champion for children when she stepped up to the plate and advocated for a child she knew to be in danger. I applaud my girl for being brave and caring enough to step in. It was her responsibility to protect that child—it is everyone’s responsibility to protect all children.

Calling Child Protective Services or the local police seems scary for some reason and gives people anxiety. It shouldn’t. It’s a phone call, a referral. That is all. Here are some particulars to keep in mind that have helped people put all of this in perspective:

• You are merely reporting what you’ve seen for yourself or what a child has told you personally.
• It is not your job to do an investigation. This is what these agencies are trained to do.
• You do not have to get to the bottom of the situation (nor should you even try) before you make the call. Nor do you need to find out what the truth is or whether you’re right or wrong. Experts will come in and do that. You are underqualified to do that, and that responsibility is not on your shoulders.
• If the experts decide that no abuse or neglect has occurred, you cannot be held liable for simply reporting what you have seen or what a child has told you.
• If you are correct about a child being neglected or abused, you have just changed the trajectory of many lives and made the world a better place. Thank you.

I have talked to people in the past who were reluctant to report abuse or neglect to authorities because they didn’t believe anything would be done. We have all heard stories of how some social service has dropped the ball. There are employees in every industry who suck at their jobs just like there are employees in every industry who are amazing at their jobs. Police, doctors, teachers, and social workers.

What does that have to do with you doing the right thing?

So, we’re not going to do our jobs as humans because we think somebody down the line isn’t going to do theirs? Uhhh… no. I have called the proper authorities plenty of times in my career as a teacher and as a human. We need to make sure that we are always vigilant and always willing to do our part in keeping children safe. There are any number of possibilities and outcomes in any given situation:

• A file could simply be opened up on a child because you made a phone call. Having this paperwork in the system is very important. If adults and mandatory reporters all do the jobs they are supposed to do, it won’t just be you who is doing the reporting. Teachers, coaches, or other neighbors may also make phone calls and find that you’ve already opened a case on a child. These situations take time and a lot of evidence must be compiled. Don’t keep your piece of the puzzle to yourself.
• You may have valuable information to be added to a file that has already been filed. We should be working together as a community here. If we all do our part, children will be safer.
• You may be wrong. Nothing will come of it, and there is no harm done. Keep watching out for children.
• You may be right. Child Protective Services may swoop in and rescue that child tonight.

You don’t know. You don’t have to know. Just keep doing what is right.

I have made more than my fair share of the phone calls:

I called the police when one of my students was raped by her boyfriend and one of his family members. I filled out a police report and was interviewed by police. They swooped in.

I was told by a student that his mother’s boyfriend was touching him inappropriately. I called CPS. They investigated.

I was told by a student that she had been molested by one of her mother’s “friends”. I stood with her, another family member, and her counselor while she spoke to the police and filed a report. He went to jail.

I was told by a little girl that her mother’s boyfriend sneaked into her room at night and touched her everywhere. I called CPS. Sean-Martin I took her and her brother in to be interviewed. They swooped in to rescue those kids.

I was told by a young lady that her dad, who is usually a great guy while sober, gets really violent with her when he’s drunk which was all the time since her mother had abandoned them a few months ago. A file was opened up. People stepped in. Things got better.

Our school reported neglect for a student who already had a hefty file. His mother came and withdrew him from school and said she was going to home-school him. That’s code for “he dropped out of school” as a sixth grader. There was nothing else we could do.

I have referred I-Don’t-Know-How-Many children to school counselors because I have suspected abuse or neglect. I-Don’t-Know-How-Many phone calls have been made. Files have been opened, files a mile high have been added to, kids have been taken out of homes, counseling has been provided, meals have been cooked and delivered, people have gone to jail, people we thought should be in jail have walked away, parents have gotten extra support, and children have fallen through the cracks.

Good has not always triumphed over evil.

But it sure as hell hasn’t been because of neglect on our parts. Or fear. Or apathy. A whole lot of good people have stepped out, stepped up, and done what is right for kids. We have to work within the frameworks we have, and there are no guarantees. Certainly, we tip the odds in our favor when we are willing to put our doubts and anxiety aside, pull out our phones, and simply alert the proper people that we have a concern.

 They don’t call it a battle for nothing.

1-800-4-A-CHILD

Daisy Rain Martin is editor in chief for RAIN Magazine. She is also the author of Juxtaposed: Finding Sanctuary on the Outside and If It’s Happened to You, which can both be found on her website. Look for Hopegivers: Hope is Here in 2014.

Friend Daisy on Facebook.