Child abuse and neglect are serious public health problems and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). They can have long-term impacts on health, opportunity, and wellbeing. This issue includes all types of abuse and neglect of a child under the age of 18 by a parent, caregiver, or another person in a custodial role (such as a religious leader, a coach, a teacher) that results in harm, the potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child. 

The 2021/2022 school year has been challenging for most students. Many students transitioned back to in-person classes from virtual learning. Continued quarantining due to Covid-19 has also caused some disruptions in learning. Foster children and children from hard places often struggle academically and may not have the supports needed for being a successful student. The end of this school year is a great time for us to assess that as well as make sure our children have a great summer.    

In 2008, Prevent Child Abuse America introduced the pinwheel as the new national symbol for child abuse prevention. Why? Because by its very nature, the pinwheel connotes playfulness, joy, and childhood. It has come to serve as a physical reminder of the great childhoods we want for all children. And as a symbol, the cyclical nature of the pinwheel calls to mind the positive cycles of love and support we want to help families create. It also represents the efforts to change the way our nation thinks about prevention by focusing on community activities and public policies that prioritize prevention to make sure child abuse and neglect never occur. Over a million pinwheels have been displayed across the US since April 2008, and we hope you’ll join us by bringing pinwheels to our communities, too.