 National Children's Memorial Flag Day April 26th Calls Attention To Shamefully High Number Of Preventable Deaths Of Children In U.S. April 14, 2002
To call attention to the shamefully
high number of preventable deaths of children in the U.S., the
Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) promotes the display of
the Children's The National Center for Disease Control and Prevention report that the United States has the highest rate for childhood homicides and deaths under violent circumstances than in any industrialized nation. The United States leads the world in homicides against children and youth under age 15, accounting for 73 percent of all homicides-and 54 percent of all suicides-of children from birth to age 15 in the world's top 26 industrialized countries. The causes include guns, motor vehicles and child abuse. National Children's Memorial Flag Day is a day when agencies, organizations and individuals remember children lost to violence and promote action needed to stop preventable deaths of children, whatever their causes. These include protecting children from guns by unloading and locking guns and ammunition separately, strengthening child protection services, providing after-school programs as safe havens for all children, and funding drug treatment for addicted parents. The Children's Memorial Flag depicts linked silhouettes of children, with one missing from the chain. As in past years, it is encouraged that the children's memorial flag be flown over buildings across the nation on the fourth Friday of April, and flown at others times when a child or teen dies violently. The Memorial flag, with its silhouette of a missing child in a row of children, has become a symbol of the scandal of violence against children. According to the Child Welfare League of America the children's memorial flag continues to be embraced by expanding circles of concerned citizens, elected officials, and activists. The idea for a special children's memorial flag originated in Alameda County, CA, when an elected official envisioned it as a stirring way of gaining public attention for the issue of violence against children. CWLA expanded the initiative into a national one, asking the governors of all 50 states to fly the flag on the fourth Friday of April as a way of acknowledging needless child deaths and committing to do more to protect children. Last year, under the leadership of Representative Shelley Berkley (NV-1) the U. S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass a bill declaring the last Friday in April as National Children's Memorial Flag Day. This year, that day falls on Friday, April 26, and CWLA is encouraging the flying of the flag in communities all across the nation. According to CWLA President
& CEO Bilchik, "Americans across all walks of life should
commit themselves to solving the problem of abuse and neglect
- to standing up on behalf of these child victims. We must realize
that abuse and neglect are not isolated issues, and that they
require the same level of awareness and commitment to prevention
the nation demonstrated in reducing juvenile crime."
Source of news releases & graphic:
For more information about the Children's Memorial Flag and child abuse prevention, visit the Child Welfare League of America's web site or call 800/ASK-CWLA. To order the Children's Memorial Flag from CWLA:
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Memorial
Flag at any time that a child dies from violence and throughout
April, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month.