Commissioner Cook's speech presented at the live portion of the Survive-Thrive-Prevent Virtual 5K on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, at San Gabriel Park in Georgetown
Listen to her speech on FB: https://www.facebook.com/lesa.hawkinscantrell/videos/10217809584891003/?t=10
My generation grew up watching June and Ward Cleaver raising their sons Wally and “the Beaver” (Theodore) on TV. Ward was the wise and mentoring Dad walking his sons down the narrow and true paths of life. June was the loving, comforting mom who stayed calm no matter what flew thru her door, and I will add, cooked dinner in pearls and wearing high heels. Well, Wally and Beaver were the typical kids getting in trouble and learning from their mistakes. Life was generally good and that was the idyllic 50’s.
Today, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men report being physically abused in their home settings. 1 in 3 teenagers are in a violent dating relationship. Parents, who will your kids be with tonight and doing what?
For those young ones growing up in turbulent homes:
What is life without trust?
What is life full of fear?
What is life that lacks affection and where a hug is only offered for protection?
What is love – what is it like to hear all these songs of love and not be able to phantom what those words even mean?
What is it like to rarely feel safe?
That is the very life of a child in a home of physical abuse?
How does the brain of a child develop normally with high levels of cortisol surging always?
This family is the foundation for developing multigenerational lives of the abuser and the abused.