It's time for lawmakers to wake up and notice the numerous cases on the news every day, of people who abuse children physically and pedophiles actively pursuing and hurting children,  and when they get caught, they get low bond and little or no jail time.  Then we see other people who are committing lesser crimes, that although they are still bad, are nowhere near the degree of harm that these abusers/molesters/rapists/traffickers cause their victims get far greater bonds and more jail time. It's time for the adults in charge to protect these children who will be affected forever by the actions of these evil men and women,  who know that even if they are caught, they will not receive much punishment. I personally don't believe pedophiles can be rehabilitated, because if someone has the desire to do these types of things, it means something inside their mind was so broken at a young age, that the attributes that should have been formed when they were young were never formed, and instead they turned into something else- monsters. Their victims  will suffer their whole lives with depression,  anxiety,  personality disorders,  PTSD, and so much more. Their futures and relationships will be affected by the actions of these people, and then to make matters worse, the system that should protect them shows that it doesn't even care when these monsters are not even punished for their crimes. How are they supposed to feel safe when the person who violated them is right back out on the street,  after little to no jail time? Ask yourself- what message is this sending to these young victims? Ask yourself- what message is this sending to the perpetrators of these crimes? Ask yourself- how are you going to feel if one of these creeps come after a child you know or love? Judges are letting these people go back to doing what they choose to do every single day.  Then their boldness and crimes escalate. This has been proven over and over and over! They should really receive the death penalty if they sexually abuse a child,  but I know that's not going to happen,  so what we are asking for is a lengthy jail sentence for pedophiles the FIRST time they commit these terrible acts. Intensive therapy while in prison,  even though it probably won't cure them- at least they can be studied to gain insights on what went wrong to make them that way, and hopefully prevent this from happening in the future on such a huge scale. This happening to even one child, is one child too many,  but we have to start somewhere to protect these children and show them that people who harm them will receive lengthy sentences.  If they reoffend, their next jail sentence should be much longer.  How about some hard labor? I definitely think that if they have done it 3 times, the death penalty should be carried out. They've already shown what their intentions are and no change,  so why keep giving them the chance to do it again and again? If no death penalty,  then life in prison.  They really should get that the first time they offend. These are just ideas. Anything is better than letting them out in no time at all, only to reoffend.  

In the cases of physical child abuse within a family, that should be treated differently,  as many of them may need parenting skills they never learned. Social services (Child Protective Services, or it may go by a different name, depending on where they are located) needs a major overhaul to help these families in crisis,  as they may truly not know another way. Workers need to be better trained to recognize who needs and wants help, as well as who doesn't,  and not have caseloads that are too big so that they can actually help kids before it's too late,  and understand what services could help a family who does want to do better, as well as recognize those who have no intention of doing better. They need to recognize when children are in imminent danger,  and be ready, willing, and able to act swiftly to rescue children who will likely die without quick intervention. They need to be required to actually see a child when a report is made, and properly trained to assess the degree of danger the child may be in.

It's time for lawmakers to hold judges accountable who let offenders go, who have already shown disturbing patterns of behavior that are absolutely indicative of what they will do next if allowed to. It's time for laws to change to actually protect children and actually punish those with ill intentions towards them. It's time to overhaul the systems and develop more programs to help families who need and want help to learn better ways of parenting.  It's time to provide more resources for children whose families won't do the right things to make a better life for them. 

It's time for us to show we mean business when it comes to protecting children.  Please show these children that they matter, by no longer tolerating (and therefore basically condoning) the actions of those who harm them and giving them a good amount of jail time.