PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 28, 2014 CONTACT: Marni Eisner marni@cfcrights.org 704-904-4348

CMS delivers personal safety lessons to more than 3,000 students during Child Abuse Awareness Month
MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. For the second year, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has partnered with the Mecklenburg County Child Abuse Awareness & Prevention Month Committee to deliver a special, age-appropriate lesson to many of its first- and second-graders throughout the district. The lessons, which were created by CMS personnel, aim to deliver sensitive information about childrens personal safety in an age-appropriate manner. The unit, entitled Im a person too, is delivered in two parts. First-graders receive a lesson called Boss of My Body, and the I have Rights lesson is presented to second-graders. The lessons help students distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior, recognize personal boundaries and rights and learn how to get help. Many of the lessons were also delivered with a pinwheel art project to allow the children the opportunity for reflection. The pinwheel is the symbol of Child Abuse Awareness & Prevention Month as it represents the carefree childhood the community seeks for all children. Here are some important statistics about child abuse in neglect in Mecklenburg County: In 2012-13, the Department of Social Services received reports of possible abuse and neglect for 14,259 children, up from 13,991 in 2011-12. Of those 14,259 reports, 2,238 were considered substantiated. In 2012-13, 48% (6,848) of reports involved children who were reported maltreated for a second, third or more times. Children under age 6 accounted for nearly 40% of child abuse and neglect reports.

These statistics are contained in a report by the Council for Childrens Rights. For more information about Mecklenburg County Child Abuse Awareness & Prevention Month, please visit www.facebook.com/MecklenburgChildAbuseAwareness and www.cfcrights.org.
Since 1983, April has been designated as Child Abuse Awareness & Prevention Month. For the second year, a team of local agencies charged with helping children are combining forces on a public awareness campaign to get the message out about this critical issue and the importance of mandatory reporting of suspected abuse. The local committee, the Mecklenburg County Child Abuse Awareness & Prevention Month Committee, is made up of representatives from various local agencies, including the Council for Childrens Rights, the Mecklenburg County District Attorneys Office, Youth and Family Services, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Communities In Schools, Pats

Place Child Advocacy Center, the Guardian Ad Litems Office, Novant Health, the Childrens Home Society of North Carolina, the Mecklenburg County Health Department, A Childs Place, the Junior League of Charlotte, the Arts Empowerment Project, Thompson Child & Family Focus and the Mecklenburg County Child Fatality Prevention & Protection Team.

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