Good afternoon, Guam!
 
Click here to watch the Governor’s weekly address. The text of the address follows for you to read.
 
This week’s address is about child abuse. The Governor makes a plea to anyone who has witnessed child abuse, and witnessed parents doing drugs in front of children.
 
Report Child Abuse
By Eddie Baza Calvo
 
My fellow Guamanians,
There is a deadly silence in the homes of people we may know. It’s the silence of children hurting from abuse. They’re beaten, emotionally destroyed, witnesses to their mothers being hit… witnesses to drug abuse.
The silence is what keeps us from knowing and acting. Many times we just don’t know what’s going on in someone else’s home. Families struggling through abuse often times put on a brave face in public. That’s why government programs go into schools to teach children and teachers how to look for signs of abuse. Thankfully, we’ve been able to rescue children from a really bad situation… and send their abusive parents to jail, where they belong.
These children and teen’s cry for help… or the teacher or family member who spoke up for them… broke the silence. You can, too.
Some of you listening right now may know of a child who is being abused. You can distinguish between right and wrong… whether a child is being disciplined or just being hit over and over out of anger and violence. You may be a witness to a teenager who is put down again and again, her self-esteem and confidence destroyed to the point of suicidal thoughts. And worst of all, you may know children whose parents are exposing them to the drugs they use.
Break the silence. Report people who you know are using drugs in front of their children. Report parents who are physically and emotionally abusing their kids. That is no home for them. That is not the family they need. Please don’t let another moment go by without saving that child from the hell he or she is living through. You have the power to save their lives before it’s too late.
Abusive people don’t change without getting persuasive help. They’ll become more violent each day. They’ll abuse their power whenever it suits them. The love they are supposed to have for their families is blinded by the disease of their angry hearts. Children and teenagers belong in an atmosphere of love.
Help us to break the silence and save these kids. All you have to do is report the crime, and the Guam Police and the Attorney General will take care of the rest. Please call 911 if you’re witnessing a child or teen being abused. If you know of a child who has been abused… or exposed to their parents’ drug abuse, please call the police at 472-8911. And if you want to make this report, but you don’t people to know your name or who you are, please call Crime Stoppers at 477-HELP.
Thank you for listening to this message. Thank you for saving a life.

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