Community Successes

Organizations Team Up to Raise Awareness of Child Abuse Prevention Month

Pinwheels for Prevention

Editor's Note: Article and photo reprinted with permission from Neighbor Newspapers

Thousands of colorful children's pinwheels turned peacefully in the breeze in downtown Atlanta on Friday, April 9, as a silent visual reminder that too many of Georgia's children know what it means to live with violent conflict.

One child's pinwheel was displayed along Broad Street and in Woodruff Park for each of the 13,895 cases of child abuse or neglect reported to the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) for Clayton, Cobb, Dekalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties in the past year.

Pinwheels for Prevention is an annual event sponsored by Prevent Child Abuse Georgia and DFCS. It is designed to show the public in a very dramatic way that child abuse and neglect happen in every community and encourage them to focus on prevention as part of an overall plan to break the cycle of abuse. It is also a physical expression of hope that, by working together, communities across Georgia can one day make the problem of child abuse drift away on the breeze like a pinwheel turning gently on a spring day.

PSA Targets Child Abuse Prevention

Georgia First Lady Mary Perdue joined forces with FOX5-Atlanta and Prevent Child Abuse Georgia to create a public service announcement on child abuse prevention that aired last month. The PSA encourages people to get involved, become a mentor, help a parent cope with stress, and volunteer with programs that support children and families. Georgia Association of Broadcasters is distributing the PSA throughout the state. For more information contact Lanny Finch at (770) 395-7200.