Trained school teachers are often the first to notice abused children in their classroom but Paul Martin, president of For the Children, says the pandemic has interfered with that front-line defense.
“This is the first time in over 60 years that tens of millions of children were not seen by their teachers,” Martine tells American Family News, “and so we're seeing a dramatic drop in incidents of child abuse reports over the last year.”
The obvious problem, he says, is cases are being under-reported and that means innocent children are being hurt.
For the Children operates 250 chapters, all with a sponsoring church, and uses screened volunteers to help approximately 10,000 children annually with physical, psychological and spiritual issues.
“We send each of them home with a Bible,” Martin says, “and just try to give these kids, who really did not deserve any of this neglect or abuse, the hope that we all have: that there is a God out there who loves us, who cares for us.”
