Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 1161

SPECIAL TOPIC: Erin Merryn -- Tonight we offer you a repeat of an appearance by one of NAASCA's best known family members, Erin Merryn, from SCAN Episode 186 in 2011. Erin's gone on to successfully present arguments to about half the states in our country for the mandated teaching of age appropriate curriculum on sexual abuse education to students in public schools. Here's the show description from 2011: Tonight's SPECIAL GUEST is Erin Merryn, the 26 year old child abuse survivor and advocate who began "a crusade to save the children of Illinois from the childhood I could not be saved from. It is a silent epidemic because we are not talking about it with children." Illinois Senate Bill 2843, know as "Erin's Law," was passed unanimously Feb 14, 2011, and has spawned a set of similar laws in several other states. The purpose of the law is to inform and protect students from sexual abuse, to mandate school districts implement and educate students on sexual abuse. School boards are instructed to adopt age appropriate curriculum on sexual abuse education to students grades pre-k through 5th grade. As Ms Merryn points out, "Growing up in Illinois public schools every year I was educated with my classmates on tornado drills, fire drills, bus drills, stranger danger, and learned the 8 ways to say "NO" to drugs through D.A.R.E." She continues, "As a child I never had to take cover because of a real tornado. I never had to stop, drop, and roll or run out of a burning building. I never had to evacuate a school bus due to an emergency, but I had the knowledge to know what to do if any of those situations happened. Where was the drill on how to escape a child molester? Where was the lesson plan on sexual abuse, safe touches, and safe secrets?"