|Photo by Emma Delk| Central Elementary School fifth-graders blow bubbles at the Marshall County Courthouse during the Children's Day event to commemorate April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Central Elementary School fifth graders blew bubbles and read poems on the lawn of the Marshall County Courthouse to commemorate the county’s designation of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The Marshall County Partners in Prevention Team hosted the Children’s Day program on Wednesday. During the event, Marshall County Commission President Scott Varner read the proclamation designating April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The proclamation called on parents, communities and stakeholders to take action to “purposefully reduce” the number of child abuse cases in the county. It also noted “identifying and meeting the needs” of children and families in the county as vital to “preventing the long-term effects and consequences of abuse.”

After Varner read the proclamation, Marshall County Sheriff Mike Dougherty read a statement from the Child Welfare League of America about the Children’s Memorial Flag that hangs outside the courthouse. Dougherty shared that the flag memorializes the children in the country who died due to abuse this year and the “need to do a better job of protecting children.”

“The whole community feels the effects of child abuse,” Dougherty said. “All citizens should become more aware of the negative effects of child abuse and its prevention to become more involved in ensuring children have a safe, nurturing environment.”

CASA for Children spearheaded organizing the event as the lead agency for Partners in Prevention, which is a team made up of organizations that serve children and families in the county. CASA for Children Executive Director Susan Harrison said Children’s Day was created to “honor kids and the people that make a difference in the lives of children.”

Other programs had been hosted by Partners in Prevention during April for Child Abuse Prevention Month, including sexual abuse prevention programs that were open to the public to attend.

“We must make a difference in the lives of children,” Harrison said. “We must be able to share in the responsibility for creating good, happy and well-balanced children.”

Harrison said Central Elementary School fifth-graders made the trip across the street to the courthouse to demonstrate the importance of “happy, healthy” children in the county. Students read a poem about bubbles and blew bubbles during the event to “symbolize childhood.”

“We want the event to be positive and to focus on what we need to do as a community to support children in the county and keep them happy and healthy,” Harrison said. “Sometimes, child abuse prevention can be a heavy topic for children, so we’ve put a twist on that to focus on the importance of a healthy, happy childhood. Bubbles are a perfect symbol of those happy childhood memories, so we had fifth-graders have a fun little break from school today to blow bubbles at the event.”

Harrison noted that residents may have seen pinwheels in the yards of elementary schools and county buildings this month, as they are another symbol of childhood happiness.

“We are trying to put a positive twist on this month, and pinwheels also represent a healthy, happy childhood,” Harrison said. “The theme for this year’s Child Abuse Prevention Month is ‘Powered by Hope,’ which I think also fits into that pinwheel theme.”