LACASA Center’s CAP (Child Abuse Prevention) Council will recognize National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April by incorporating blue and silver pinwheel gardens throughout Livingston County to raise awareness about child abuse prevention.
The CAP Council invites community members to display pinwheels gardens in April and to attend a “Plant a Pinwheel Celebration” event at noon on Wednesday, April 5, at the Howell Carnegie District Library, 314 W. Grand River Ave.
Blue pinwheels are the national symbol for child abuse prevention. They represent a carefree childhood and symbolize the hope and promise that every child deserves to be raised in a healthy, safe and nurturing environment.
“The mission of CAP Month is to celebrate our children and to examine the role each one of us can play in keeping them safe and protected,” said Holly Naylor, director of family prevention and education. “You can get involved locally by attending our Pinwheel Celebration kick-off event or by supporting our pinwheel fundraiser”
Pinwheel garden kits and pinwheel-themed items will be available at the LACASA Collection, LACASA’s charity resale boutique, starting in late March and throughout April while supplies last. Pinwheel items are offered for a suggested donation. All proceeds support the CAP Council’s community-wide child abuse education and prevention programs.
The “Plant a Pinwheel Celebration” event at the Howell library will include guest speakers, children’s musical performances from students at Voyager Elementary school, recognition of the 2023 Champion for Children award winner, and the planting of the pinwheel garden along the library’s front walk. Further details are available at lacasacenter.org.
“The CAP Council is always willing to bring information about abuse and neglect prevention to any group or in any format,” said Naylor. “Not just in April, but throughout the year. Prevention is a year-round effort. Please reach out and let us know how we can partner with you and your organization or business to help educate or support your own prevention efforts, whether we meet virtually now or in person later.”
LACASA’s CAP Council encourages local residents to get involved in efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of Livingston County Children. The following tips from the Prevent Child Abuse America “Pinwheels for Prevention” campaign are easy for everyone to implement:
• Be a friend to a parent you know. Ask how their children are doing. Draw on your own experiences to provide reassurance and support. If a parent seems to be struggling, show you understand and offer help.
• Be a friend to a child you know. Remember their names. Smile when you talk with them. Ask them about their day at school. Send them a card in the mail.
• Give your used clothing, furniture and toys for use by another family. This can help relieve the stress of financial burdens that parents sometimes take out on their kids.
• Volunteer your time and money for programs in your community that support children and families.
For questions about CAP Month plans in April, to request a pinwheel garden kit through the CAP Month fundraiser, or to inquire about bringing child abuse prevention information to your business or group, contact the CAP Council at capcouncil@lacasacenter.org or call (517) 548-1350.
Though it’s only for April, every day of the year should be Child Abuse Prevention Month in this world.
Emotional and/or psychological trauma from unhindered toxic abuse typically results in a helpless child’s brain improperly developing. If allowed to continue for a prolonged period, it can act as a starting point into a life in which the brain uncontrollably releases potentially damaging levels of inflammation-promoting stress hormones and chemicals, even in non-stressful daily routines.
It’s like a form of non-physical-impact brain damage. … The lasting emotional and/or psychological pain from such trauma is very formidable yet invisibly confined to inside one’s head. It is solitarily suffered, unlike an openly visible physical disability or condition, which tends to elicit sympathy/empathy from others. It can make every day a mental ordeal, unless the turmoil is treated with some form of medicating, either prescribed or illicit.
I know this, since I live it daily. Even the large majority of my dreams are what I’ve more than once heard referred to as ‘anxiety dreams’.
It’s written in the book Childhood Disrupted: “[Even] well-meaning and loving parents can unintentionally do harm to a child if they are not well informed about human development” (pg.24).
Being free nations, society cannot prevent anyone from bearing children. Society can, however, educate all young people for the most important job ever, through child-development science curriculum. If nothing else, such education could offer students an idea/clue as to whether they’re emotionally suited for the immense responsibility and strains of parenthood.