“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
With that quote from Nelson Mandala and a blessing, Monsignor William Cleves, from Holy Spirit Parish, kicked off Child Abuse Prevention Month of April at Tom Gill Chevrolet in Florence.
Sponsored by the Family Nurturing Center, the theme of the event was Everyday Advocate, and many of the attendees were wearing blue in support of Child Abuse Prevention.
Proclamations from Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore and Campbell County Judge/Executive Steve Pendery, as well as Florence Vice Mayor Dr. Julie Metzger Aubuchon, were made declaring April to be the month to raise awareness for the cause.
“It is good to see businesses, non-profits, community advocates, and government leaders working in sync for one cause, and that is to protect our children,” said Aubuchon. “They are our greatest resource, and our biggest hope for the future.”
There was an art contest among school children earlier in the year to see whose drawing best represented the theme and the message of this year. Aubuchon presented Grace Sears, a seventh grader from Woodland Middle School in Taylor Mill with a framed picture of her artwork, as she won first prize in the contest.
In addition to the framed poster, Sears’ picture will be featured on TANK buses throughout April. The entire class of the seventh grade at Woodland Middle School will also be treated to a pizza party.
The featured speaker at the event was Craig McKee, a reporter at WCPO. McKee spoke of his childhood, talked of good memories and sounds, like his bike’s tires on the gravel by a quarry, and then the frightening sound of the crack of a belt on his backside, and that of his siblings, when his mom’s boyfriend thought they needed to be punished. He talked of having to choose the switch from a tree to be whipped with, and his grandfather laying his bullwhip on the table to induce him to eat everything on his plate.
He recalled trying to nap, while hearing his mom snorting a line of cocaine. He held on to the good times of snow-sledding and catching fireflies.
His memories were difficult, and he recalled how his mom finally left the person who hurt them all, even though some abuse didn’t stop. He escaped everything by joining the Air Force. He cross-trained as a journalist, and through a series of good decisions, he is now a well-respected member of the community who regularly gives back in many ways. But his memories and the damage of the child abuse remain with him.
So many children who suffer child abuse can’t quite get over it, he realized.
“Now I’d be the first to point out here that really what I experienced is nothing compared to the pure horror of abuse so many children deal with on a daily basis,” he said. “I didn’t have cigarettes put out on my arms, I didn’t have food withheld, I wasn’t tied to my bed for days on end and forced to soil myself. These, however, are the true horror stories that we cover in our business.”
McKee talked about his three children and a friend of one of his daughters who packed her belongings and came to live with them when she was 18 without a backward look at a life of abuse.
“The cycle of abuse is something that can be stopped,” he said. “Through education we can ensure parents have the resources to better understand how to better deal with conflict resolution. They can understand that yes, children can sometimes drive you absolutely nuts, and push you to the edge. But it’s how you steer the ship when it’s about to capsize that truly determines your next step.”
Brittainy Beshear, wife of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, was also a featured speaker and she praised the Family Nurturing Center and others who work to prevent child abuse.
“It is truly an honor to be here to help you begin Child Abuse Prevention Month,” she said. “I also just want to take this moment to tell you how much respect Andy and I have for all of you who do this incredibly difficult but important work. You devote yourselves as professionals or volunteers to helping children and parents overcome abuse. You’re heroes to us. And to so many people. But I know you don’t do this work for that reason. You do it because it needs to be done.”
She talked about the horror stories she has heard an said children should never have to live these stories. She said these kids deserve so much better than what the world has given them. They deserve adults in their lives who fight for them, and their future, and for them to get care protection and justice, she said.
Beshear said that by helping a child, people are also helping the adult they will eventually become, and all the people they will come in contact with. Kids are vulnerable, but they are also resilient, and they learn from kindness and emotion, she said.
Beshear also thanked Tom Gill for hosting the event, which he has done for 15 years, although they had to postpone the event for two years due to the restrictions of Covid.
“I believe in kids,” Gill said. “God has given us a spirit to be a community to support causes that are so important anyway we can. I believe that the more we all get involved with preventing child abuse, the less prevalent child abuse will be, and that is my goal.”
After the speeches and the lunch, large blue ribbons were passed out to the audience to install along the long white picket fence on the outside of Tom Gill’s property, next to the expressway. There they joined the silver and blue pinwheels that people have bought as a fundraiser for child abuse prevention, and to keep the awareness for the cause alive.
