York Town News
Pinwheels for prevention: local children create a colorful vision of hope for victims of child abuse
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Children at Village Elementary School made pinwheels to represent the 888 children who suffered abuse or neglect in York County last year and the 888 adults or other children who helped them to report that abuse as part of the Child Abuse Prevention Council's Project Pinwheel Awareness Campaign.
Photos by Jennifer L. Saunders
It was all part of the Project Pinwheel Awareness Campaign, hosted by the Child Abuse Prevention Council of York County, to officially acknowledge April's designation as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The Child Abuse Prevention Council of York County partnered with Village Elementary School to host Project Pinwheel, which organizers have described as a visual educational event to raise awareness of the large number of reports of child abuse in the county.
Early on Monday morning, March 26, the entire student population of Village Elementary School gathered together outside to raise their handmade pinwheels in honor of the men, women and children who have been there to listen and to speak out to stop abuse.
Principal Ruth Dealy was joined by York Police Chief Douglas Bracy, School Resource Officer Scott Cogger, School Department Curriculum Coordinator Dr. Maryanne Minard, Sgt. Drew Donovan and Cpl. Jerry Carr of the Maine State Police, and Susan Lamb and Carol Walker of the Child Abuse Prevention Council of York County for a special ceremony.
Dealy urged the children to "turn to an adult and tell them when you need help."
Lamb echoed those words, telling the York Schools' youngest students that they are not alone.
"You have a lot of power," she told the children. "You have the power to save yourself by telling a trusted adult."
York Police Chief Douglas Bracy agreed.
"I'm very proud of you all for what you have done," he told the children, referencing the work undertaken with their teachers to create the colorful pinwheels and share awareness of child abuse prevention.
In 2006, the Department of Health and Human Services received 888 reports of child abuse and neglect in York County alone, and 18,869 reports throughout the state. And, according to the council, those statistics only continue to grow beyond Maine's borders, with an estimated 3 million children reported abused and neglected in the country each year, and three children dying each day as a result of abuse.
Walter Kyllonen of York's St. Aspinquid Masonic Lodge also praised the children, and reminded them that programs like the recent Child Identification Day at Village, sponsored by the Masons with the assistance of Cogger and the York Police Department, are ways the community tries to make sure they are safe.
"It is only when our communities come together to take an active stand against child abuse and family violence that we will see changes happen," explained Sarah Dore-Fairfield, education coordinator for the Child Abuse Prevention Council, in an announcement of this year's event, adding, "solutions to these devastating issues depend on each of us recognizing signs, creating a culture of safety and support for families and educating and raising awareness to the realities."
To those ends, the council has provided guidelines of information on child abuse, which is defined as "when children's bodies or feelings are hurt by an adult or another child" - whether that person is someone they know or a complete stranger.
"If a child is being hurt, they have the right to tell a safe adult - a teacher, principal, guidance person, parent or other family member - and be heard," Dore-Fairfield noted. "It is never a child's fault if someone is hurting them."
Minard illustrated the message that children themselves can help stop abuse by telling a trusted adult if they are being hurt, or if they learn that a friend is being abused or neglected, by sharing a poem about secrets - and that it is good to tell someone about any secret that hurts.
"Children need to be safe," Lamb said prior to the event. "Kids need to see and hear that adults care and will step in to make sure they are not hurt."
The event continued later in the day at Thornton Academy, after which a member of the Maine State Troopers Association transported a ribbon to the State House as part of the Blue Ribbon Relay to prevent child abuse and neglect.
The Child Abuse Prevention Council is York County's only organization with the sole mission of preventing all forms of child abuse and neglect. The council's 12th Annual Bid Against Child Abuse Auction will be held this Saturday, March 31, at the Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport.
For more information about the council, call 985-5975 or visit www.kidsfreetogrow.org.
