About The Forest-blade. (Swainsboro, Ga.) 1996-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2021)
4C The Forest-Blade • ummiEmaniielConntyLive.com • Swainsboro, Georgia • March 3, 2021 Editorials Columns Still Here About this time a year ago we started hearing the words Pandemic and Corona Virus. Never did we think it would still be around, and fearful, a year later. Well, here we are. Our new nor mal is wearing a mask, no close encounters, and cancelling every thing that might draw a crowd. In your worst thoughts, could you have imagined this would include even weddings and funerals. As I write this, we are still under stay-at-home orders. Computer is my life line to attend my church service and meet with visible colleagues on a new addition to my computer life, Zoom. Sadly, we continue hear ing more bad news every day. The vaccines are now showing some light at the end of this tun nel. With the vaccines and full cooperation of all, the next months could bring us back to the a real sho'nuf nor mal. Pray, do your part, and keep hope alive. Thankful that I have received both vaccines- —with no side effects. While I stay safely iso lated at home, there are periods of isolation and boredom. In the past when I felt overwhelmed with obligations, I often wished I had more time to spend "catching up". During this time, aside from straightening all my cabinets, matching my socks, clearing out overstuffed closets and such, I have done a lot of reflecting and hoping to find some positives. In the pre-COVID-19 days, I did not make long chatty telephone calls. I always felt that others were like me and used phones just as needed. Now, I have dis covered it to be my best social outlet. Hearing a human voice is a treat. I even took time to say a few polite words to the Robot caller who told me the savings of buy ing solar panels—since I live in a condo, I am not a possible customer, but I listened. I do make and receive calls from friends and family and have interesting conver sations. In fact, I just fin ished a phone visit with my first grade friend, Annette Evans. We could talk forever. Ann Shepard, you are next. In the days when I lived in Atlanta, I only called my mother when need ed. Note, I said needed because long distance calls were considered expensive and only done when necessary— not for social visiting. As I remember, a minimum rate was charged for the first three minutes and rate went up after. I had to have my message shortened to only three minutes. Occasionally I had to call home from Shirley Proctor Twiss a pay phone which required a handful of dimes to keep putting into the slot. When your dimes ran out, your call ended. Maybe the positive of the present time is more and better ways of communicating. Making a pot of soup with leftovers from the fridge brightens a dreary afternoon and even bet ter, when you share with a neighbor. I live in a condo community with 60 units. Since COVID- 19, we are taking more strolls around the neigh borhood and stopping to visit at a social distance. I hope getting back to the norm will continue such neighborly times. Hopefully, we will be seeing faces without a mask sooner than pre dicted, and we can say the longed-for phrase, "Back to normal". God Bless and keep you every one—stay safe— stay well and call your friends. Write to Shirley at siptwiss@Qmail.com. Legislature has chance to help those that can't help themselves In the midst of the ca cophony over election reform, vaccination policy, sports betting, Trump's grumps har rumphs and another unconscionable pri vate school vouch er scheme, a piece of much-needed legisla tion is quietly wend ing its way through the legislative maze this session and may be will finally become law. It is long overdue. It is called the Child Victim Protection Act and it is intended to get our state's child sexual abuse laws strength ened and in line with other states. The driv ing force behind the leg islation is Atlanta attor ney Marian Wilbanks, founder of the Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploita tion Clinic (CEASE), located at the Universi ty of Georgia School of Law and dedicated to representing survivors of child sexual abuse. ChildUSA, a nation al think tank for child protection, ranks Geor- Editorial Cartoons gia as one of the worst states in the nation for survivors of child sex ual abuse to try and get access to the civil jus tice system. Georgia is one of only 6 states that does not allow claims after the age of 30. Cur rently, the age for filing sexual abuse claims in the state is 23. That is lower than every other state in the southeast. Under the current legis lation which seems to be getting broad bipartisan support, there would be a one-year open period for anyone of any age to bring charges of sexual abuse. After that, the law would be limited to cases occurring after 2015 and 52 years of age. What is magical about the age of 52? Stud ies show that on aver age a victim of child abuse will not disclose the experience until that age. One clinical study found that 64% of participant/survi vors experienced what they term "dissociative amnesia" and 28% suf fered "severe memo ry deficits." Those are scientific big words for being so trauma tized by the experience as a child that it takes years to come to terms with what happened and to talk about it. Wilbanks says that over time it is likely that 1 out of 5 girls will be abused and 1 out of 12 boys. This gets up-close-and- personal with me. I have two great-grandsons and three great-grand daughters, all between the ages of 12 and 2, that I love passionately and who think life looks Dick Yarbrough pretty awesome from where they sit. I can't fathom them suffering a life-altering trauma as abused children. My niece, Marlyn Darra- gh, a registered nurse in Gainesville, works with child victims of sexual abuse at the South Eno- ta Child Advocacy Cen ter in White County and with the Forsyth Coun ty facility as a sexual assault nurse examiner. I don't know how she does it but I am proud of her for doing so. What she, Wilbanks and others tell me is the pandemic has made child sexual abuse in cidents worse, if that is possible. Children are cooped up with adults and no one with whom to share their incidences of abuse. Caroline Wallis, long time director of FAITH, a Child Advocacy & Sexual Assault Center serving Rabun County as well as Stephens and Habersham Counties, says there has been a 92% increase in request ed services from vic tims of sexual assault during the past year. Marian Wilbanks has faced political head winds in past efforts to get child sexual abuse legislation passed, mainly from the Boy Scouts of America and the Catholic Church. Both have had more than their share of well-publicized sexu al abuse situations but have opposed any legis lation that would allow victims to sue them. In 2019, Atlanta Arch bishop Wilton Gregory, now Wilton Cardinal Gregory in Washington, D.C., said such a bill would be "unfair to the church" and "drastical ly damage (our) ability to carry out the mission of the Catholic Church." I suspect God found that downright hypocriti cal. Now Pope Francis, who has likened child sexual abuse to the an cient practice of child sacrifice in pagan rites, has pretty much muz zled that kind of talk. As for the Boy Scouts, they have declared bankruptcy as they face some 300 law suits from men who say they were sexually abused as Scouts. They have wisely indicated they are not going to be a problem this time around. It also doesn't hurt that First Lady Marty Kemp is a strong advocate in the fight against sex trafficking. "Ms. Kemp's efforts and ours fit like a glove," Wilbanks says. "We both want to hold en tities responsible for their predatory actions and make Georgia a model for protecting those that can't protect themselves." It will be interesting to see if the legislators agree. Why would they not? The Forest-Blade © 2021 All rights reserved. Gail Williamson, Editor / Publisher Whitley Clifton, Newsroom Editor Emanuel County Newspaper, Inc. 416 W. Moring St., P.O. Box 938 • Swainsboro, GA, 30401 Telephone: 478-237-9971 • Facsimile: 478-237-9451 Internet: zvzvzv.EmanuelCountyLive.com nezvs@emanuelcountylive.com • advertising@emanuelcountylive.com © 2021 Emanuel County Nezvspapers, Inc. The entire contents of this nezvspaper are copyrighted. Any reproduction or dissemination zvithout the express zvritten consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited. We welcome Letters to the Editor from our readers. However, due to increas ing production costs, we must request that letters be kept to approximately 350 words. All letters must be signed by at least one person. Address and telephone number of the writer should also be giv en. The Blade reserves the right to edit let ters and limit the number of letters on any one subject from any one person.
