Child Abuse Prevention month begins under official declaration

Amid blue pinwheels, pink flamingos and hundreds of starfish, April was officially declared Child Abuse Prevention month by Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s wife Jeanette. First Lady Herbert delivered the proclamation Tuesday morning while standing in front of 214 pairs of children’s shoes, representing the substantiated cases of child abuse in Cache County in 2012.

“Therefore, be it resolved that the citizens of Cache Valley in this great State of Utah hereby proclaim the month of April 2013 to be Child Abuse Prevention Month,” Herbert said among applause from the gathered supporters.

Herbert has an initiative of her own which is in line with Tuesday’s events. Uplift Families is an organization that promotes better parenting skills.

“Our hope is, with some education and with some proper parenting skills, we can break that (abuse) cycle,” Herbert said, “that we can teach them how to handle situations in a more appropriate way and know the important role that they play in the lives of their children.”

The Child and Family Support Center recognized Herbert as an honorary Starfish Thrower.

The event also had the attention of other state and local leaders. State Senator Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, Rep. Curt Webb, R-District 5, Cache County Attorney James Swink, Cache County Sheriff Lynn Nelson and even Utah State University athletics mascot Big Blue were in attendance and participated in the Steppin’ Up for Children event.

Child and Family Support Center executive director Esterlee Molyneaux explained that each pair of shoes on the steps represented a substantiated case of child abuse in Cache Valley over the past year.

“The 214 pairs of shoes represent an inexcusable 326 victims,” Molyneaux said.

“In Utah, on average, a child is abused every 52 minutes, or basically one child an hour,” Molyneaux continued. “So where does Cache Valley stand? Unfortunately, Cache County ranks sixth out of 29 counties in Utah for the number of victims of child abuse.”

Preventing child abuse and strengthening families is the purpose and mission of the center. The story of a young child tossing starfish back into the ocean, making a difference for each individual one, was a theme of the event. The story is a parable for the work being done by the center to prevent child abuse and make a difference in individual children and families’ lives.

“Each of the starfish that you see out today represents one child the Child and Family Support Center has served in the last year alone, for a total of 6,420. It’s amazing,” Molyneaux exclaimed. “In addition, the center served over 2,200 parents.”

“This last year over 4,200 children visited their nursery,” said Sheriff Nelson. “The staff handled over 9,000 calls on their support line. Over 5,300 adults and children learned about the Good Touch Bad Touch program in the elementary schools.”

Sheriff Nelson then went on to share quotes from parents and children who had personally benefited from the center’s programs.

“When a child needs that special someone to help them through, the center is there,” Nelson continued. “What a beautiful day it is in the lives of children and families when they can get the services they need to help them in their life. This is the greatest success story I can imagine.”

Cache County Attorney James Swink, also a board member of the Child and Family Support Center, cautioned those in attendance to be mindful of children and their access to the Internet.

“One way we can throw a starfish back into the ocean is to regularly teach our children how to use digital devices wisely. For example, we can teach them what is appropriate to post on social media sites, how to handle cyber bullying, or inappropriate texting. We can teach our children to never give their name, or their identity or their address to other people.”

Swink also cautioned that children should not be allowed unsupervised and unlimited access to the Internet, placing computers in public places and designating time limits for technology uses. He shared a personal story of a close friend whose son saw inappropriate images on the Internet and acted them out.

The Cantata group of the Cache Children’s Choir, under the direction of Dr. Sylvia Munson, also performed <em>Dream a Dream</em> by Ed Robertson. To conclude the event, members of the board along with state legislators did a ribbon cutting to officially kickoff Child Abuse Prevention Month.

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