The fourth week of Child Abuse Prevention Month 2011 brings us more tips and a wealth of new pictures!

Below is the latest round of tips we have posted over on our Twitter account (follow us: @pcanj):

• Turn off the TV; spend more time cuddling & reading books with your child. The time & attention has benefits beyond school success!
• “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” — Dr. Suess
• Set an example for your kids by being courteous and respectful to everyone you meet.
• Keep books and other reading materials where your child can easily reach them.

The home care agency People Care of New Jersey, Inc. sent along a photo of a great poster board they created showcasing their motto: compassion, dedication, education.

Magical Rainbow Preschool in West New York, NJ sent along a bunch of pictures, including this one the staff put together themselves:

Their dedication to children never ceases to impress us! Here’s what they had to say:

Thank you for allowing Magical Rainbow staff, students and parents to participate in such a vital important subject in our life. As family workers for the school we work hard to prevent all types of abuse and to make our community aware that there is help out there and we are there if needed. We enjoyed putting together these posters that I have attached in the email to spread the word for all to see to prevent all types of abuse. Our children are the most important part of our future — they will be the ones to make the difference.

The next couple pictures come to us courtesy of Brick Avon Academy in Newark. The pinwheels look great on their way up into the school!

In collaboration with NJPIRC, Jersey City P.S. #24 highlighted Child Abuse Prevention Month with the pinwheel campaign on their new website’s slide show, all thanks to their amazing parent group, PTP (Parent Teacher Partnership).

Healthy Families in Cape May sent this fantastic shot from their event with a huge collection of planted pinwheels!

Jugando Aprendemos in West New York, NJ had Officer Aguayo come to the center to speak about child abuse, in addition to the wonderful pinwheel displays set up:

SonRise Development Corporation held a “Strengthening Families Play Date and Resource Fair” on April 9th. Be sure to check out even more photos from their event!

There is still a little bit of time left — be sure to enter our Annual Pinwheel Contest for a chance to win a Donut & Coffee breakfast party and a $100 gift certificate toward next year’s CAP Month materials! Send your pictures in today to pinwheels@preventchildabusenj.org — we would love to feature them on the website and blog!

The third week of Child Abuse Prevention Month 2011 brings us more tips, more pictures, and a new podcast episode!

Below is the latest round of tips we have posted over on our Twitter account (follow us: @pcanj):

• Create a quiet, special place at home for reading, writing and drawing.
• “Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.” – Dr. Haim Ginott
• Catch your child being good. The best way to encourage children to repeat a positive behavior is to praise them for it.
• Kids do not deal well with gray areas. Set rules and stick to them so that it is fair to you and fair to your child.
• Spend time each day focused entirely on your child. If you spend positive time together, they will not need to misbehave to get attention.

Monmouth Mobile Home Park in South Brunswick once again set up their pinwheel garden this year in celebration of Child Abuse Prevention Month:

FAMILYConnections held a Community Workshop in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month on April 13th at the Family Success Center in Orange with workshops, discussions, and guest speakers. In attendance was Orange Mayor Eldridge Hawkins:

To wrap things up this week, we have a new podcast episode! We here at Prevent Child Abuse-New Jersey took some time to discuss Child Abuse Prevention Month, what it means to the community, what events to look forward to, and some suggestions on how any person at all can get involved to make a difference. Visit our “Podcast” page to subscribe and automatically receive new episodes for free, or listen below!

Be sure to enter our Annual Pinwheel Contest for a chance to win a Donut & Coffee breakfast party and a $100 gift certificate toward next year’s CAP Month materials! Send your pictures in today to pinwheels@preventchildabusenj.org — we would love to feature them on the website and blog!

As originally printed in the Trenton Times & NJ.com on April 20, 2011:

Last week, we read yet another horribly sad story, about a New York mom who drove into a river with her children in the car. While the eldest managed to escape, she and three of her children died. When we read such accounts, we react with incredulity — it’s impossible to imagine what circumstances could ever lead to such a cruel and horrific decision by a child’s parent. The story is almost too sad to read.

A crucial question is: Do we know enough to prevent tragedies like this from ever occurring again? The answer is that, while we can’t always prevent every single case like this, we can prevent many cases of child abuse and therefore save lives.

In these most extreme cases, national statistics show — maybe surprisingly — that the most frequent perpetrator is the mom, acting alone. Frequently, that mom is experiencing a combination of other major stresses in her life, especially related to the “big three”: serious depression or other mental illness, domestic violence and substance abuse.

Thanks to studies and research, we know how to prevent many cases of child abuse and neglect. While a common factor behind many of these cases is overwhelming stress, programs that teach parents about healthy and positive parenting can reduce the stress of being isolated and of not knowing how to parent a newborn child.

Research-based home visiting programs, such as “Healthy Families” or “Parents as Teachers,” work with moms and dads to help them understand normal child behavior and give them information about ways to handle parenting’s pervasive challenges. For parents without a positive role model, without knowledge about normal child development or without family or friends to turn to, home visitors can make the difference.

A recently published evaluation of the Healthy Families home visiting program in New York found — four years after the program had ended — that the program reduced the likelihood of a parent having a low birth-weight baby by up to 75 percent, reduced by almost 90 percent the number of serious physical child abuse incidents, and significantly improved those parenting skills correlated with healthy child development. Researchers found the program had even better results with women in higher risk situations, including women experiencing depression and having poor parenting skills. Other research has shown that Healthy Families can reduce the incidence of domestic violence.

Is there more that needs to be done for parents who face additional stress, beyond the sometimes overwhelming everyday variety? Nearly every parent understands that parenting can be the most challenging job, as children will inevitably be able to push our buttons until we are exhausted, frustrated, and yes, sometimes, angry. But most of us manage to deal with even those trying moments by using a combination of parenting skills we have learned, and without resorting to hitting, injuring or neglecting our children.

But what happens when a parent who is facing those same circumstances also experiences major depression or other mental health issues? Uses drugs or alcohol, poured on top of severe stress? Is a victim of domestic violence, which often spills over to an innocent child?

Home visitors already do two things to help. Through interviews with the family and their own observations, they identify these problems when no one else may know about them. By gaining the family members’ trust and visiting in the family’s own home, they learn about behavior and incidents that often won’t be shared with anyone else. Once they learn about the problems, they can help link a family with professional counseling and treatment services as quickly as possible. And if a child is in danger, they also let the appropriate authorities know.

Clearly, more needs to be — and can be — done. Home visiting programs serve only a small fraction of families in need; the reality is that nearly every family could benefit from having at least one home visit after the birth of a child, simply to see how things are going and answer the inevitable questions. Home visitors and other staff would also benefit from additional training about how to recognize these tougher issues, and how and when to intervene when there is a danger to a child. Finally, stronger efforts are also needed to make sure a family member who needs treatment — for substance use, mental health or domestic violence services — gets help quickly. Right now, there are huge gaps between the supply of high-quality treatment services and the demand. Too many times, there are waiting lists or a lack of available slots when urgent situations exist.

There are no simple answers, but research shows that evidence-based prevention programs can prevent child abuse and also build a strong foundation for healthy parenting skills and strong families that help children succeed in school and throughout their lives.

The second week of Child Abuse Prevention Month brings us even more to share!

We have been posting another round of parenting tips on our Twitter account (follow us: @pcanj). Here is a recap of the latest ones:

• Show your child how to behave. If your child pulls a cat’s tail, show her how to pet a cat. Do not rely on words alone.
• Say “I Love You!” at least once each day.
• Put down what you’re doing to listen to your child when they’re talking to you, and make eye contact.
• Be flexible, especially with older children and adolescents. Listen and get your child’s input on some rules and punishment.
• Start a family game night. Write each family member’s name on a day on the calendar. That person decides which game will be played that evening.

The Lambda Tau Omega Sorority Incorporated Ariamas Sigma Chapter at The Richard Stockton College of NJ shared a wealth of photos over on our Facebook page this past week. Here are a couple of our favorites:

Be sure to enter our Annual Pinwheel Contest for a chance to win a Donut & Coffee breakfast party and a $100 gift certificate toward next year’s CAP Month materials! Send your pictures in today to pinwheels@preventchildabusenj.org — we would love to feature them on the website and blog!

Don’t forget this weekend’s book clearance sale at J.R. Trading Company in Monmouth Junction — it’s another great way for you to help support us in our mission to end child abuse in New Jersey. Simply present our special flyer (PDF) when you check out, and a percentage of your purchase will go to Prevent Child Abuse-New Jersey.

The first week of Child Abuse Prevention Month 2011 has New Jersey off to a great start! Pictures, events, and stories are pouring in to us, so we wanted to share back some of what you all are doing out there along with us.

We have been sharing some parenting tips every day on our Twitter account (follow us: @pcanj). Here are some of the ones we have posted so far:

• Nurture your own self-esteem, and your child will have a great role model.
• Tend to have difficulty in the same situations? Talk w/ your child beforehand to explain expectations & review consequences of misbehavior.
• Don’t call out instructions to your child from another room if you are really serious about wanting them done.
• Punishment shows children what not to do; only guidance and teaching can show children what to do.

New Brunswick was gracious enough to fly our Child Abuse Prevention Month banner above George and Church Street, letting all New Jersians know that it is their turn to make a difference in the lives of children.

Mile Square Early Learning Center in Hoboken sent us this fantastic image of a pinwheel display with banners:

The Kappa Delta Sorority at TCNJ held their Shamrock ‘N Run 5k back at the end of March at Mercer County park, and sent along the following pictures:

We can’t wait to get your pictures and stories! Drop us a line at pinwheels@preventchildabusenj.org so we can promote all the great things happening throughout the state. Any picture you send also gets you entered into our “Pinwheel Contest” — you can win a coffee & donut breakfast as well as a $100 gift certificate toward next year’s Child Abuse Prevention Month materials!