A Time to Tell

[first lines]

Ronald Reagan: The Boy Scouts of America would like to thank you for your interest as a presenter of this film, "A Time to Tell". You might feel uncomfortable in presenting this subject to an eleven to fourteen year-old adolescent male audience for which it is intended. However, it is because of the unique physical and psychological changes young men experience in adolescence that the subject of sexual molestation should be directly addressed. Broaching the subject of sexual molestation is not an easy task. But the problem of sexual abuse is too great an reality in America to be ignored. One in seven men will be sexually molested before the age of twenty one. The term for a person who prefers children as sexual objects is a pedophile. The term "pedophile" or "child molester" is generally used interchangeably. Molesters come from all walks of life. The dirty old man in the trench coat is simply a myth. The abuser may be an adolescent as well as an adult. The child molester is generally known to the child and the child's family. According to a report entitled "Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis" published by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in cooperation with the FBI, pedophiles are frequently the nice guy in the neighborhood who likes to entertain children after school or take them on day or weekend trips. A pedophile knows how to talk to young people and how to listen to them, in fact he may relate young people better then adults. He seduces his victims by being attentive, giving them gifts, sometimes treating them better then their own parents do. Sadly he often targets adolescents who are already victims of emotional loss or physical neglect. He uses his status as an adult and as an authority.figure to seduce and later control his victim. It is our responsibility as citizens educate our young people concerning the recognition of potential molestation. The resistance to seductive over towards should they occur and the confidence to report any suspicious conduct or specific action on the part of an abuser that infringe upon the rights of a young person with regard to their body. Experience indicates that a molester could be anybody. The three R's of protection: recognize, resist, and report is the Boy Scouts of America's message to the young people of our society. Education concerning this social ill is the first step towards substantially reducing the problem. "A Time to Tell", is a dramatization of three incidences of attempted molestation. The first situation takes place in Gary's home with an attempted seduction on the part of his stepfather. The second instance involves a longtime friend of Jeff's family, and the third dramatization deals with a situation of an older boy abusing younger boys. The scenes in the film are intended to be specific but not graphic, yet we strongly suggest that you preview the entire film before presenting it to the eleven to fourteen year old male audience. Again, thank you for your commitment to educating our young people concerning this serious of adolescence sexual abuse in our society.