By Thea Jarvis, Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Project Aware, an informational, educational program designed to increase awareness and prevention of child sexual abuse, is being introduced into the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Church in Atlanta, selected as the site for the pilot program, began implementing Project Aware in the parish school Feb. 13.

“We teach kids to tell somebody and keep telling until somebody believes you,” said Merrine McDonald, L.C.S.W., coordinator of Project Aware, a division of Catholic Social Services.

The program also trains adults to recognize signs of abuse in children and informs them of legal protections and counseling options. It shows parents how abuse can happen and points out stressors that sometimes trigger abuse.

IHM was chosen for its diversity and size, the existence of a school and the assent of its pastor, Father Richard Kieran.

“Everything you do to inform and educate people makes a difference,” Father Kieran said. As Church “we are dealing more intelligently with the issue (of child sexual abuse) than in the past, not just reacting to it.”

Project Aware began at IHM last November, December and January, when parish and school staff, religious education teachers and interested parishioners were introduced to the program. The Fulton County Department of Family and Children’s Services and the Georgia Center for Children provided specialists to give training.

During the week of Feb. 13 though 16, IHM students learned the first lessons of “Good Touch/Bad Touch,” a curriculum that gives youngsters tools to prevent or interrupt sexual abuse. Professionals from Prevention and Motivation Programs, Inc., spent four days at the school working with students while teachers observed their methodology. The program is to be incorporated into the regular school schedule.

“We are teaching kids personal body safety and training teachers at the same time,” said Ms. McDonald, who hopes to form an archdiocesan team that can then train others.

The impetus for Project Aware came from the late Archbishop James P. Lyke, OFM, who called for specific measure to combat child sexual abuse following reported cases of abuse in the archdiocese. A five-members task force met for two years to consider how the archdiocese could effectively respond to the problem, and what agency of the archdiocese could oversee such a program. Ms. McDonald was hired in January 1994.

A licensed social worker and therapist for adolescent victims of physical and sexual abuse, Ms. McDonald said people are unaware of the pervasiveness of the problem. The Georgia Council on Child Abuse, which is also assisting Project Aware, reports that one in four females and one in seven males are sexually abused before the age of 18.

At school faculty and archdiocesan deanery meetings, parish gatherings and parent groups, she met those who doubted the alarming statistics and others who were themselves victims. Some were frightened of the topic or counseled a quiet, low-profile approach, but none denied the existence of abuse.

In all her talks, Ms. McDonald communicated an urgent need to break the cycle of silence. “That’s what child abuse is, a secret,” she said. “It’s so freeing to realize you don’t have to keep it a secret anymore.”

Project Aware not only provides preventive tools for potential victims, but sets up a protocol for dealing with abuse when and if it occurs. This offers security and removes fear of reprisal for those who experience and/or report child abuse, Ms. McDonald said.

Pam Church, director of Prevention and Motivation Programs, Inc., of Atlanta and Valdosta, developed “Good Touch/Bad Touch” used by Project Aware. The program is appropriate for pre-school through sixth grade and can be modified for use by seventh and eighth graders. It is not sex education, but a personal body safety curriculum that teaches children how to identify an abuser, whom to tell about abuse and what to do if they are not believed. It also teaches that sexual abuse is never the fault of the child.

“It’s not a victim hunt,” said Mrs. Church, but a program “to empower children and give them skills. It’s not a biology or plumbing class, but fits into a spiritual mode.”

“Good Touch/Bad Touch,” currently being used at Our Lady of the Assumption, St. Jude, St. Thomas More and St. Anthony schools in metro Atlanta as well as St. Mary’s School in Rome, is up and running in 75 percent of public schools outside the metro area. Additionally, it has been introduced in school systems in the District of Columbia and seven states.

“It’s a positive, gentle, nurturing approach to keeping kids safe,” Mrs. Church said of her program, because it builds self-esteem and teaches the value of each person. “Nobody has the right to hurt them and they don’t have the right to hurt anyone else.”

“Good Touch/Bad Touch” was developed over a five-year period and field-tested. Extensive evaluation was elicited from parents, therapists and teachers, as well as staff at the University of Georgia (UGA), who observed that children as young as kindergarten age can be successfully taught skills to prevent sexual abuse.

Sister Peggy Ryan, OP, M.S.W., co-chairs Project Aware’s board of advisors with Dr. Geraldine Jackson-White, a professor at USA’s School of Social Work.

“This is something the Church can be very proud of,” said Sister Ryan, who has worked for Families First, Inc., in Atlanta and counseled low-income families at risk of losing their children because of abuse or neglect.

Project Aware is “a compassionate, Gospel-based response to a horrific problem. It’s the Church saying, ‘We’re human, so let’s deal with our humanness. God is present and promises mercy.’”

Project Aware’s outreach will eventually extend beyond the classroom and the parish. Referrals to therapists and support groups for those needing assistance in the sensitive area of child sexual abuse will be available through the Project Aware office. Training for clergy will also be scheduled so priests can be supported in their ministry and learn tools to cope with incidents of abuse.

Often, “priests have been secondary victims,” of child sexual abuse, Ms. McDonald said. “Now, they may be skeptical about demonstrating affection to children.”

“I don’t want us to become so frightened, so cautious that we can’t respond to people as human beings,” said Father Kieran, who participated in Project Aware training.

Because child sexual abuse is a problem for society as a whole, “It’s important for people to have a sanctuary where they can feel free enough to say what’s happening to them,” said Father Willie Hickey, former director of continuing education for priests and a member of the task force that initially tackled the issue.

The pastor of St. Theresa’s Parish in Douglasville is hopeful that Project Aware will help the Church “avoid some of the mistakes of the past.”

“The more we can educate our clergy and staff people to look for the signs and know how to report (abuse), the more freedom we give a person to come forward,” said Father Hickey, “the more we let society know the Church is not running away from this issue.”

To learn more about Project Aware or to volunteer to be a part of this archdiocesan-wide program, contact Merrine McDonald at 885-7459.