Being a kid seems so easy. There are presumably no worries, no responsibilities, nothing to worry about, unless your neighborhood best friend is away on vacation.

But some kids are going through things you might never imaging. Unspeakable things. Statistics show that 1 in 9 girls and 1 in 53 boys under the age 18 experience sexual abuse or assault at the hands of an older adult of some athority over them.

82% of all victims under 18 are females. Out of the yearly 63,000 sexual abuse cases, the perpetrator was most likely a parent. 93% of victims exposed to this sexual assault are assaulted by a close relative.

A sixteen-year old Cartersville High student who wishes to remain anonymous experienced childhood sexual trauma.  “ I was three,” she explains. “Me and my little brother needed a babysitter, so my uncle volunteered. He was huge and he never cracked a smile. He would get me alone and get his pleasure. When I got older, I would get little flashbacks or have dreams, but it became a distant memory until one night it all came back to me and everything I was struggling with eventually came out.”

The student talks about how she pushed everyone away…”Even my mom. And she’s always been my best friend.”

Not everyone has a “sunshine and rainbow” childhood. Often, people with the happiest faces and biggest smiles are the ones who go home to heartache.

Our anonymous student discussed how her childhood experience still haunts her: “I jump at people’s touch, and I hate it when guys my age touch me. It makes me so uncomfortable to get close to the opposite gender,”

Being exposed to sexual trauma at any age translates into stress, PTSD, and trust issues. There are so many people in the world who have experienced similar encounters to the one our CHS student has described.

If you are a student struggling with past or current sexual abuse, there is help out there. Go to a school counselor or teacher you trust and tell your story. Let someone help you. And know that you are not alone.