Over the last year, I have been able to track at least 23 Tennessee children involved in reported daycare abuse cases, including two children whose deaths are still under investigation.

This issue is not theoretical to me.

My own child was one of the 14 children victimized in the Pulaski daycare case. The teacher responsible received a 12-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to 197 criminal charges stemming from only six days of surveillance footage.

There were also other employees who were charged with failing to report what happened and ultimately received substantially lesser consequences after cooperating with the District Attorney's Office.

When parents asked why more could not be done, we were told that the District Attorney's hands were tied by the current laws and that if we wanted those laws changed, we needed to take our concerns to our state legislators. So that's exactly what I have been doing.

And now, our voices are beginning to be heard!

I recently spoke with my state representative, who reached out to me regarding the work being done on Marsy's Law and was receptive to my concerns about mandated-reporter accountability. I appreciate that willingness to listen, and I am encouraged that meaningful conversations are beginning to happen.

This is about whether Tennessee's laws are strong enough to protect children when the adults responsible for protecting them fail.

I believe they can be stronger.

I believe knowingly failing to report abuse should carry consequences that reflect the seriousness of what is at stake. I believe parents deserve transparency and accountability when abuse occurs in a place where they entrusted their children for care. And I believe the people responsible for protecting vulnerable children should not be able to walk away from that responsibility with consequences that fail to match the harm caused by their silence.

I understand that changing laws is complicated. I understand that there are procedures, committees, legal considerations, and a lot that goes into writing legislation.

But I also understand that children don't get a second chance at the childhood we are supposed to be protecting for them.

These children need a voice.

They can't call their representatives.

They can't explain what happened to them.

They can't advocate for stronger laws.

We have to do that for them.

That's why I am asking Tennessee lawmakers to listen to the parents who have lived through these cases and to turn those conversations into meaningful legislation.

We have an opportunity to learn from what happened in Pulaski and from the other daycare cases happening across Tennessee.

Let's not wait for another child to be hurt before we decide the laws need to be stronger.

There are Tennessee children being entrusted to daycare workers every single day.

We should be doing everything within our power to make sure that when a parent drops their child off, that child is protected, not only from the person who may hurt them, but from a system that must hold everyone accountable when that protection fails.

Please sign this petition and join me in being a voice for Tennessee's children.

Our voices are being heard.

Now let's make sure they lead to change.