Remaining Resilient
There is a fundamental principle required to navigate a modern life that appears even more important than ever before: resilience.
Take a moment to read the newspapers or scroll your social media feeds - the need to be resilient has never been more essential.
More importantly, and if you can, read the report that was published online last week.
And just a word of caution, it is incredibly challenging.
The final report from the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings was made public and tabled in Parliament on September 26.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff offered in a statement:
"The Commission has recommended that the monitoring and oversight functions of the Independent Regulator should form part of a broader Commission tasked with ensuring that the rights, safety and wellbeing of children and young people are promoted and protected," the statement read.
"To build a child-safe future for our state, we must empower children and young people to influence our systems, and we must continue to hear the voices of those who have suffered abuse in our systems and institutions."
The Tasmanian government has confirmed that it will accept and implement all recommendations.
The case studies are harrowing.
Some victims and their perpetrators are already dead, some perpetrators remain in jail, some may still be working with children, and many victim survivors continue to experience life-long trauma.
And at a federal level, the National Office for Child Safety has delivered a 'National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030'.
"The National Strategy focuses on five themes. These are:
Awareness raising, education and building child safe cultures
Supporting and empowering victims and survivors
Enhancing national approaches to children with harmful sexual behaviours
Offender prevention and intervention
Improving the evidence base
Resilience is the ability to recover and keep going when life gets you down.
A more formal definition by Canadian researcher Dr Michael Ungar was cited in an Edith Cowan University research paper Resilience: A Definition in Context, and available on the Australian Psychological Society website:
"In the context of exposure to significant adversity, whether psychological, environmental, or both, resilience is both the capacity of individuals to navigate their way to health-sustaining resources, including opportunities to experience feelings of well-being, and a condition of the individual family, community and culture to provide these health resources and experiences in culturally meaningful ways," the paper reads.
I'm not sure how resilient you would need to be to wake up each day and get on with life if you have been a victim survivor of the crimes described in the report.
Tragically, some have not been able to continue and have ended their lives while others have not been able to return to a 'normal' life.
Victim survivors and their willingness to share their experiences are some of the most resilient and courageous people I have ever met or read about.
There are resilience projects, books, journal articles, podcasts, conferences, online seminars, and YouTube channels devoted to the subject, which highlights increased awareness and a glut of support materials.
However, misunderstanding, ignorant, and/or ill-informed throw away lines still abound.
"When I was a boy..." or "It didn't do me any harm..." or "It was better when we were young..." are phrases that tend to roll off the tongue of those my age and older.
What they are referring to is that being treated in a manner where respect was earned through fear was actually a good way to learn how to navigate adult life.
Sadly, that is not only an outdated commentary, but also potentially dangerous particularly when those who are scared and vulnerable may be listening.
"Stop sooking...", "Toughen up...", "Pick yourself and get on with it..." - I'm sure you have heard them all before or even employed the phrases yourself. Please stop.
The increasing strength of our young people in a modern society is their ability to call out wrongdoing.
That does not mean for one moment that the most disgusting and vile criminals will not commit the most heinous crimes.
But we must continue to build resilience in our young people, and support them to do so.
The American Psychological Association outlines a range of strategies to support young people in building resilience, namely:
1. Make connections
2. Help your child by having them help others
3. Maintain a daily routine
4. Take a break
5. Teach your child self-care
6. Move toward your goals
7. Nurture a positive self-view
8. Keep things in perspective and maintain a hopeful outlook
9. Look for opportunities for self-discovery
10. Accept change
From experience, no matter your age, whether you are young or maturing, the need to identify and implement resilience strategies remains of paramount importance.
And for those who require support or continued assistance from a medical professional when the going gets just too tough, we hear you, we are deeply sorry that we failed to protect you, and we acknowledge your ongoing pain.