Tag Archives: child neglect

Pinwheels for Prevention: National Child Abuse Prevention Month

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Pinwheels for Prevention

Displaying pinwheels is important in raising awareness, because the number of pinwheels can be used to raise awareness of the large number of children who are suffering from abuse and neglect.

This video, courtesy of WYTV, Andrea Mistovich, coordinator for the Child Advocacy Center at the Akron Children’s Hospital Beeghly Campus, discusses the Pinwheels for Prevention Project.

“it’s child-friendly toy and you’ll notice it only takes a little bit of wind to make it move, just like it takes just one person to make a difference in a child’s life”

Why should you care about preventing child abuse?

from Prevent Child Abuse America

Around the country more and more pinwheels are being put on display.  On Tuesday, the Children’s Advocacy & Protection Center of Catawba County placed 1,500 pinwheels at Kiwanis Park. Prevent Child Abuse Utah in aiming to distribute 75,000 pinwheels this year, and handed out 50,000 last year.

The East lawn of the Historic Franklin County Courthouse in Union, Missouri

The East lawn of the Historic Franklin County Courthouse in Union, Missouri

Have you got your pinwheel yet? Is it visible?
What is happening in your area, and how you can join in?

A great blog on Pinwheels is here Pinwheels to Prevent Child Abuse. (Discussing Dissociation)

Further links:

Child Abuse, Past, Present and Future

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Read here about the history of Child Abuse Laws and policy in the United States.

New York City was the first place to bring in child abuse laws, after the dreadful abuse of Mary Ellen was discovered in 1873.

The awareness of the abuse of Mary Ellen brought about these changes.

Child Abuse, Past, Present and Future.

Do you think that animals are still better protected than children?

Are children still treated as the “property” of their parents?

What more can be done to protect children from abuse, and to prevent abuse?

 

What happened to Mary Ellen after she was rescued?

Read about how her life changed here:

http://www.americanhumane.org/about-us/who-we-are/history/story-of-mary-ellen.html

It’s Child Abuse Awareness Month

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April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month (in the United States) – so today is the perfect day for a first blog entry.

Child Abuse is an umbrella term which also covers Child Neglect (emotional and physical), verbal abuse (such as swearing), abandonment and threats of harm to the child. Child Abuse can involve particular actions, or inaction (such as failure to provide for the child).

Preventing child abuse is not a job for parents or carers alone – the whole community has a role in preventing child abuse.

The six protective factors for preventing child abuse are:

  • Nuturing and Attachment
  • Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development
  • Parental Resilience
  • Social Connections
  • Concrete Supports for Parents
  • Social and Emotional Competence of Children

If a child is being neglected or abused it does not necessarily mean the parents are ‘bad’ or are intentionally causing the child harm. It can mean a parent/carer/relative and someone else in contract with the child is causing the issue, or it can be a sign of a person who is in need of more support or who is unaware there is an issue. Reporting possible abuse or neglect is the best way to help improve a child’s life.
For the children you know, how can help them? If you have children yourself, are they aware of OK, and not OK? Do they know who they could tell if they are worried about their friends? Is there a child you know who often seems sad, afraid or angry, have you asked them why this is? Would you know the signs of possible abuse if you saw them – for example patterns of marks on a child’s ear, or an unusual way of acting towards others? You do not need to be 100% sure to report a possible case of neglect or abuse, professionals can look into it themselves.
If there a child you know who may be neglected or abused, contact a helpline today to report it.

Further information
https://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/preventionmonth/
http://www.preventchildabuse.com/
http://www.ispcan.org

Raising awareness within our own communities is one of the key ways to prevent child abuse, and to stop it early.

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