Had a rewarding experience making my presentation at the New Jersey School Counselors Association conference in Long Branch, NJ, on Sunday Oct 11. I spoke on the topic of my book titled “Father Figure – My Mission to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse”. I found the attendees to be an extremely dedicated group who clearly understood the challenges involved in intervention and prevention. The question/answer session was filled with lively discussions. I came away with the feeling that the attendees clearly understood the role they can play in intervention and prevention.
After my presentation on Sunday, I decided to take a couple of days to visit a few organizations in the NY area that focus on child abuse prevention. However, I must admit that I was not able to come away with a positive impression. I was hoping to connect with some of these organizations for possible collaboration in the future, but it seems that there is a general lack of interest when it comes to collaboration with others. I don’t know why that is, but it’s unfortunate that their initial reactions seemed to be discouraging.
This attitude is not anything specific about the NY area organizations. It appears that most of these organizations around the country seem to display this attitude. I have experienced this same attitude from similar organizations around the country when I tried to communicate with them via emails. It is possible that these organizations might believe that collaborating with others might would somehow distract them from their mission. However, I believe that more collaboration can only be positive in achieving their goals.