I have adopted a butterfly to bring the dreadful issue of child abuse to public attention. It is a monarch butterfly and when they migrate through Texas on their way to Mexico to spend the winter it is a beautiful thing to see hundreds of butterflies in the fall of the year as they begin their journey southward. The monarch butterflies migrate from areas that are confronted with seasonal changes. They spend the winter in a few small locations in the mountains near Mexico City where there is rarely a freeze. The cool temperatures lower the monarch's metabolism to prevent a depletion of energy reserves the butterflies will need in the spring.
Monarchs have a wonderful defense system. Because chilled monarchs are
incapable of flight, their classic warning coloration (orange and black)
is a warning to most birds that this is not a tasty treat. A single encounter
is enough to educate the predator to avoid the butterfly thereafter.
Children on the other hand do not have elaoborate defense mechanisms.
They are in close proximity to their "predators", and are not able to "migrate"
as a butterfly does in the fall to preserve its life.
The violence against children must stop. Take a "time out" if the kids are on your last nerve. It is the parent's responsibility to not only bring into this world a healthy child, but to keep that child in a healthy state of well being. In 1997, 1,054,000 children were confirmed by CPS as victims of child maltreatment. This represents 15 out of every 1,000 U.S. children. Our little butterflies deserve no less than complete love from parents. They are new to the world and all is bright and wonderful for them. Darkness and fear should never become a child's cocoon. That place where so many recede and do not come out again. Each one should be allowed to mature and learn to spread their wings in a loving atmosphere.
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This page created July 1999
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