Child Abuse Prevention – Why It Needs To Be a Community Issue

By: Gundula Hargraves, Marketing Director - CASTLE

 

 

April has been declared “Child Abuse Prevention Month” by Presidential and other governmental proclamation. As President George W. Bush stated in his proclamation in 2005,”our Nation has a responsibility to build a safe and nurturing society so that our young people can realize their full potential. During National Child Abuse Prevention Month, we renew our commitment to preventing child abuse and rededicate ourselves to working together to ensure that all children can have a bright and hopeful future.”

 

The Blue Ribbon Campaign - targeted at raising public awareness to the problem of child abuse - is gaining momentum nationally. Now the symbol of child abuse, it is worn during April to focus community attention on our children, specifically on child abuse.

 

The blue ribbon was first used by two grandmothers to commemorate the deaths of children they loved and were not able to save from abusive parents.

 

It was not too long ago, that the issue of child abuse was considered a “private matter”, and while in some states legislation existed that prohibited excessive physical discipline of children, the idea that a child could be “abused” was not really a part of the national consciousness. It was not until the sufferings of a little girl by the name of Mary Ellen Wilson caught the attention of a Methodist mission worker, Etta Wheeler, in 1874, who discovered during her visits to some New York neighborhoods that this nine-year old child of a deceased English immigrant had been brutally beaten, cut and burned by her foster mother for seven years. Her appeals to police, church and the court were generally dismissed with the comment, “Don’t interfere between parent and child”. When the mission worker finally went to Henry Berg of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), action was taken and the events that followed forever changed the course of child protection in America. Through Berg’s efforts, Mary Ellen’s foster parents were brought to justice and the founder of the ASPCA also became the founder of the first “Child Protective Society” in the United States.

 

Surely we have come a long way since those early days, you might say. And we certainly have. Nevertheless, since April was first declared child abuse prevention month in 1985, the number of child abuse victims nationally increased to approximately 3.2 million annually.  And just as in the case of Mary Ellen Wilson, whose plight would have never been discovered were it not for community involvement, child abuse prevention today must be a priority for everyone today.

 

Why should we care? Research shows that child abuse and neglect has long-term, harmful effects on children, including an increased risk for adverse health effects such as smoking, alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, severe obesity, depression, suicide and sexual promiscuity. Maltreatment in early infancy can cause regions of the brain to function improperly. Direct costs are estimated at $24 billion each year, and indirect costs are estimated to exceed an additional $69 billion a year.

 

Add to these staggering numbers the symptom of generational repetition, and the need for prevention becomes even more acute. Studies show that the cycle of abuse creates a family culture of abusive behavior that is passed down from generation to generation. While there is no easy solution to the maltreatment of children, child abuse is preventable. The overwhelming majority of families that abuse or neglect children can learn to become better parents through counseling and parenting programs.

 

CASTLE, an organization for the prevention of child abuse, has been providing child abuse prevention services for 29 years with overwhelming success. We believe that it is imperative for our society to invest in our children. Not only our communities, but the entire nation depends on the next generation being prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. We as a community and a nation must do all we can to empower our children of tomorrow. As stated in a recent UNICEF report “the true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children – their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born.”

 

During child abuse prevention month, CASTLE urges the Treasure Coast communities to come together and recognize that child abuse exists and to make a conscious effort to support prevention. We also urge the press to use its influence and help us get a desperately needed message to the community at large. Awareness is half the battle, so let’s all wear our blue ribbons and blue bracelets and remind everyone we come across of the problem of child abuse and the help we as a community can provide.

 

Help us by joining in the battle against child abuse and support our prevention efforts! Please contact CASTLE at 772-567-5700 (Vero Beach), 772-465-6011 (Fort Pierce) or 772-781-4510.