Not many Americans know it, but April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Even in America, a country that is thought to be one of the most modern in the world, child abuse is still a problem. It is a very serious subject at that, because abused children are often the children who lack of self worth as they age, not to mention, many trust issues and feelings of anger and bitterness. Americans should be more than concerned about the issue of child abuse, because these same children need to grow up to become functioning members of society and they will have a hard time doing so with a history of abuse in their past.
Like most national months, such as Black History Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month began as just a designated week in June of 1982. All government agencies were expected to observe the program with activities, ceremonies, and other programs that brought attention to the alarming rate of children who were being neglected and abused.
Blue ribbons might be seen around in April. These ribbons have old origins that date back to 1989 during the Blue Ribbon Campaign. One grandmother in Virginia, as the story goes, wore it as tribute to her grandson who had died from child abuse. So in April, if you see someone wearing a blue ribbon, it may be in memory of those children who were lost because of child abuse.
