By Donna Marie Wallace
Contributing Writer

This is the first is a series of four articles that will appear in The Garner Citizen News and Times addressing the issue of child abuse prevention. April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The statistics are shocking. In 2006, North Carolina officials received reports of more than 100,000 instances of child abuse. Upon investigation, officials proved that 24,597 of these children were abused. Tragically, 34 died from these crimes. The survivors have a substantially increased risk of committing a violent crime, abusing drugs, quitting school, or abusing their own children.

But many of these crimes could have been prevented.

As Prevent Child Abuse America’s President (PCA) and CEO Jim Hmurovich explains, punishment is not the only solution: “It is clear that more and more Americans are taking a stand for the early and comprehensive prevention of abuse, not just responding to it after it occurs.”

In fact, PCA’s goal is to teach communities how to take that stand. What better time to demonstrate this goal than in April, which has been named National Child Abuse Prevention Month? During the month, The Garner Citizen will offer a four-part series on how local agencies, churches, and other organizations can play a pivotal role in the safety of these children.

The first goal is to define child abuse itself: In most cases, people imagine a terrible scene, as depicted in a gripping movie. But child abuse includes a vast array of intentional physical injuries, as well as sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. In fact, neglect is one of the major forms of child abuse in this country. >>more