Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 3, 1994 TAG: 9402030399
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Papa Bill told her not to tell anyone about their secret games. Lying on her bed, she sobs out her frustration.
But Simon understands.
"I feel sick. I feel dirty," Lori tells him. Papa Bill "touched me in places I thought were my own."
She's afraid that if she tells someone she and Papa Bill will get in trouble.
"Papa Bill is a grown-up, and what he's doing is wrong," Simon says. "What you need to do is tell someone."
Lori and Simon are not real. They are puppets in a 35-minute performance by Regina Marscheider's Children's Performance Workshop and Spectrum Puppet Productions. But Lori's fear is all too real to many children who are sexually abused.
Marscheider brought her child abuse prevention program, "Knock, Knock . . . Who's There" to Roanoke recently to introduce it to social workers, police and educators from the Roanoke Valley who gathered in William Fleming High School's auditorium. Pilot projects were started in Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach - which placed the program in its regular curriculum in all elementary schools this year.
A puppeteer for 20 years, Marscheider started creating the program seven years ago in Virginia Beach where she had performed puppet shows in battered womens' centers. She began researching child abuse and "was sick to my stomach" at the kinds of abuse cases she discovered.
Her marionette puppet show teaches children that "they're not alone and gives them solutions on how to get help," she said.
The performance is aimed at elementary school-aged children with catchy songs and cute characters. Simon, for example, is green with purple hair. Through his hip style, he tells the audience that he lives in the hearts of all children. He is their instincts and their gut feelings to do the right thing.
He appears and praises the children when they get it right: he skateboards onto the set when Lori hangs up on a strange caller and when her brother says no to a stranger offering candy.
"I think it's an effective program for elementary students so they can become aware of abuse and how to report it," said Lou Talbutt supervisor of guidance for Roanoke City Schools. "I would like to be a part of any pilot program."
Talbutt's concern is ensuring the children get follow-up discussions on when and to whom to report an abuse. "You certainly don't want children to get caught up in the performance and report something to get attention," she said.
Marscheider says she has heard countless stories of children coming forward after her show. In Norfolk, 13 children came forward and 11 needed immediate attention, she said.
One 8-year-old girl drew a picture of herself with a man on top of her. The man was her father. She says the girl wrote a letter with the picture that said, "Simon said it's OK to tell."
One of her favorite stories is of a child who drew a picture of a school bus and a man. The teacher questioned the student, and an investigation ensued. "They found out this man was scoping out the kids," Marscheider said. This story pleases her because a potentially dangerous situation was stopped before any child had been hurt.
Having children come forward is "very scary but what I'm doing is just the tip of the iceberg," she said. "It's horrible on the one side but on the other side, once we wipe away the tears, we can sleep pretty well at night."
Chris Nuckols, president of the Optimist Club of Roanoke, says his organization is acting as a catalyst to introduce the program to Roanoke, Roanoke County, Vinton and Salem schools. "We envision a pilot program in one school in each school division," he said. It will take money to get the program started but Nuckols said he already has interest from civic organizations to support it.
DARE Officer Jim Stanley of the Roanoke County Police said: "We already have a safety net in place with the junior high and high schools," but this program would probably be well received at the elementary level.
"Something like this can't hurt," said Roanoke County Police Officer Jill Deegan. "Even if we help one child."
by CNB