April is National Child Abuse Prevention month.

By Noel Pauley
Guest columnist
    Family Connection of Stephens County, along with Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, recognizes the importance of community-based support for all children and families during National Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Month in April.
    The theme of this year’s awareness and impact campaign is Growing a Better Tomorrow for All Children, Together.
    We can build healthier, safer, and thriving communities if we take the same approach to raising families that we do to tending a community garden on a shared piece of land.
    Too often, our society thinks of raising healthy children as a parent or caregiver’s responsibility alone.     
    In reality, we all benefit when groups of people work together to collectively care for children, who grow up to become successful, contributing adults.
    Stephens County is an amazing town, filled with wonderful people.  
    However, child abuse and neglect still happens right here.
        There are children in our community who need us to stand up and be a loud, unified voice that we are all in the fight for them.
     We want to continue to work to make Stephens County the best place for families and children.
    Throughout April you will notice blue pinwheels, bows, and signs throughout our community.  
    Local organizations will be sponsoring different trainings and projects to highlight prevention work throughout the community.  
    The blue pinwheel is the symbol of child abuse prevention.  
    That’s what CAP month, and all the blue pinwheels are about. We are raising awareness, yes.  But, more than that it is a challenge for all of us to stop and think, ‘what can I be doing to make sure all children in this community have a chance to grow up into healthy adults?  What children do I need to step up for and how do I do that?’ and then take action and do it!”
    For more ways to get involved in CAP Month, please contact me at director@stephensfamilyconnection.org. says Noel Pauley, executive director of Stephens County Family Connection.
    (Noel Pauley is the executive director of the Family Connections organization.)