I believe that every child has the right to be safe and loved. Once upon a time I was a small child who believed in fairy tales. I believed in myself and possibilities. Without knowing it, I believed that a loving world was my right, that innocence kept me safe, that I would always be protected, that I would be happy. Once upon a time I was damaged beyond repair. Once upon a time I was raped and the world changed. All of my rights were taken from me. I no longer believed. Everything that I thought about the world around me was no longer true, and I had no tools to develop new meaning out of chaos. I was 13. For many years I believed that I was broken, unlovable, sometimes crazy, because I no longer believed in myself, in love, in the possibilities of the world. It is in children that I can start to believe again. I became a teacher because I beleive that every child has the right to a loving and safe world. I believe that every child deserves their innocence. I believe this is the only thing really worth fighting for. If children grew up with these rights intact, there would be no jails, no war, no killing others for money or oil, no starvation, no fear of death or torture. I will fight for this. If there is anything in humainty that we need to pass on, is it compassion. I will pass this on because I believe that every child has the right to live in a world they can believe in.