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I fought back the tears as a student named Sarah read a poem about a three-year-old that was killed by her alcoholic father. She showed photographs she had found in magazines and pointed out statistics of abuse. Sarah shared with me that many of the children were ages 0-3 and unable to cry out for help, much of it is behind closed doors. I had no idea that child abuse was such a common problem.

One of the students who was making the awareness of “cutting” said that she personally knew of about 20 kids who do this to themselves ages 10-30; some do it for attention and some because they are really hurting inside and don’t know how to express themselves.

I was also amazed to find out that some seemingly harmless video games such as Pokemon and Dungeons are linked to suicides and murder. The young children that play the games are influenced negatively to devalue life and unknowingly engage in introductory forms of witchcraft. Some of the children start acting out what they’ve learned, have social, mental and/or emotional problems, and many have symptoms of bi-polar or start hearing voices.

These eighth-graders were able to speak to me at such a deep level. I was impressed with their authority and boldness. I asked a few of the kids why they chose their topics. Most of them all chose topics that have affected their life and people they know. They were so passionate about what is going on around them, it was like they were showing me “look at all these dark places” and then saying “let’s turn on a light; you can be that light.”

They taught me how to recognize someone who is being abused or abusing themselves and what to do about it. I was greatly impacted by my visit. I really felt like I was surrounded by a small army of heroes fighting against evil and injustice. I know these students will make the world a better place.