County commissioners proclaim April Child Abuse Awareness/Prevention Month
Members of the Stephens County Child Welfare Board pose with Stephen County Judge Gary Fuller after he signed a proclamation declaring April as Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
On Monday, Stephens County Commissioners proclaimed April 2018 as Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention month.
“Each month of the year is considered a month to be aware of child abuse, but the month of April is a time to remind all what our children need in life and what abuse can do to a child,” said Sharon Wimberley, president of the Stephens County Child Welfare Board. “We do ask that you help let everyone know it should not hurt to be a kid.”
She said the group will be decorating the courthouse lawn on April 4 to honor Child Abuse Awareness Month and bring awareness to the problem.
According to information provided by Wimberley, there will be blue ribbons with faces of children attached to the trees at the courthouse, representing and honoring the boys and girls of Stephens County who are in foster care. The blue represents the bruises left on a child after physical or any other abuse.
She said there will also be angels and pinwheels that will be placed on the courthouse lawn to represent the 172 children who died in Texas from child abuse and neglect. There will be a large angel, and this year there will be glittered stars in the trees, along lights shining at night on the scene.
According to the information, Texas has more children die from neglect and abuse at the hands of adults than in any other state.
Also during the meeting commissioners voted to continue the burn ban.
Story by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan
Cutline, top photo: Sharon Wimberley, president of the Stephens County Child Welfare Board, reads a request to county commissioners that they proclaim April 2018 as Child Abuse Awareness Prevention Month. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
