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Center for Youth Leadership
Why wait for someone else to make a difference?
CYL Alert
Chalk line…child abuse…Immigrant Workers’ Day
Chalk Line Project
“We started April off with a bang,” said Brittany Yelenik of the Senators Community Foundation, “and we wanted to end it in a big way.” April is child abuse awareness month so the Senators Community Foundation led a bunch of activities to grab people’s attention.
“We started things off in Hartford with the 9,42 Paper Bags Project,“ said Sarah Stonehill of the Senators Community Foundation. “And we closed the month with the Chalk Line Project. It was a simple idea, but it was full of meaning.”
The line, which stretched 2.3 miles from Brien McMahon High to the Department of Children and Families office on Water Street in Norwalk, represents the public’s attention span when it comes to child abuse.
Molly Yordon and Michelle Lopez hold signs as Sarah Delinski and Cheyenne Paris place a chalk line from Brien McMahon High School to the Department of Children and Families on Water Street.
“We knew the line would blow away soon after it was spread,” said Sarah Stonehill, “but that’s the point. People typically have an immediate and intense reaction to a case of abuse, but the reaction is rarely sustained; it fades when other things in life come up – ‘I have to go shopping,’ ‘I have to pick up a friend at the train station,’ etc. The chalk line is a reminder that child abuse must remain uppermost in our minds if we're going to stop it.”
A few days after the Chalk Line Project, we received a call from Ken Mysogland, a Regional Director of the Department of Children and Families. Impressed by the chalk line and other public awareness projects of the Senators Community Foundation, Mr. Mysogland invited us to meet with Department of Children and Families staff on May 7.
Please see below for a news account to the Chalk Line Project.
Immigrant Workers’ Day
“Look at this,” said Lorena Martinez, a member of the Peace Project. “You have 245 students standing in complete silence to honor immigrant workers. The t-shirts they’re wearing and the signs they’re holding have important messages; messages that we hope everyone takes a minute to think about.”
Lorena was talking about the silent demonstration we held between classes on May 1. The t-shirt slogans were great: “No human is illegal.” “I am the proud child of an immigrant worker.” And “I am more than an accent.” The signs carried equally important messages. For example: “My uncle landscapes your yard.” “My aunt cleans your bathroom.” “The orange you ate today was picked by my brother.” And so on.
Other activities included a silent vigil on the football field; laminated messages and footprints in the hallways; and tons of bedsheets. But one activity was especially poignant. It’s what we call the Clothesline Story Project.
Two of our members wrote stories about the challenges faced by their parents on the way to citizenship. Each story was spelled out on 30 pieces of huge art paper and placed on a clothesline in the school’s main hallway. “So many people stopped in their tracks to read and comment on the stories,” said Paulina Hernandez of the Peace Project. “I think it was an important part of our activities.”
Please see below for a news account of Immigrant Workers’ Day at McMahon.
“Students Take to the Streets for Young Victims of Violence”
by Patrick McNamee, The Advocate, May 1, 2008
“With Child Abuse Awareness Month coming to a close, Brien McMahon High School students took to the streets once again to bring the issue to people's minds. The Senators Community Foundation completed a month of demonstrations and events with a symbolic chalk walk yesterday afternoon to the state Department of Children and Families office on Water Street.
Group members took the 2.3-mile trek from school, leaving a line of "chalk," which for environmental reasons was flour, along the roads that lead to the offices.
The chalk will disappear from the ground quickly, just as news of child abuse leaves people's minds after a few moments, organizers said. ‘This chalk line project represents how you hear about child abuse, and it only affects you for 10 seconds; it shows how quickly it can escape your mind,’ 10th-grader Cheyenne Paris said.
Students pushed the chalk-liner, and others carried signs trumpeting the cause. They expected to use 30 bags of flour to finish the route.
Brien McMahon's Center for Youth Leadership developed the idea, thinking it was a unique way to reach motorists and passers-by. ‘We think this really is a good idea because of the symbolization; you think about child abuse when you see it, but then life intervenes,’ said Bob Kocienda, director of the Center for Youth Leadership.
In an earlier demonstration last month in Hartford, students put out 9,442 paper bags to represent each victim of child abuse in Connecticut, with 246 coming from Norwalk.
‘I really think all that we've done has helped raise awareness,’ ninth-grader Molly Yordon said. ‘People see us going out and being active; we're not just staying in Norwalk but are going places like Hartford and are letting people know we want to see change.’ “
“McMahon Students Demonstrate Support for Immigrant Workers,”
by Patrick McNamee, The Advocate, May 2, 2008
“About 300 students lined the main hallway at Brien McMahon High School yesterday, standing in silence. Wearing T-shirts and holding signs to show support for immigrant workers, the students received hundreds of glances from classmates and teachers on their way to the next class.
The students are members of the Peace Project, a program of the Center for Youth Leadership at the school, and held the demonstration yesterday because it is a day of appreciation for immigrant workers nationwide.
‘A lot of people come here to America, but some people don't realize why,’ said senior Yusmerith Caguao, a member of the Peace Project executive board. ‘They come to get a better life and provide for their family.’
The students wore T-shirts that read ‘No Human is Illegal’ and other messages. Many held signs that read ‘My Mom Cleans Your House’ among others.
In the middle of the hall between the two rows of students were footprints leading to a sign taped to the floor, "Walk in My Shoes." Many McMahon students are the children of immigrants, so the demonstration was full of meaning.
‘Our main goal is just to find a common base for everyone in the school,’ said junior Paulina Hernandez, also a member of the executive committee.
Before school started, T-shirts were handed out and an announcement was made over the loudspeaker to let students know about the activities. At 1 p.m., Peace Project members lined up on the football field holding larger signs that could be seen from inside the school.
‘This year there has been such an increase in immigrant students,’ said Bob Kocienda, director of the Center for Youth Leadership. "This is a great way to honor the heritage of students and families in Brien McMahon High School.’ “
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For more information, please contact:
Center for Youth Leadership at Brien McMahon High School
300 Highland Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06854
203/852-9488
CYL Alert 20
May 8, 2008
 
WHAT-
What is child abuse?
There are five types of child abuse:
Neglect - chronic failure to provide basic needs.
Physical - non-accidental injury.
Sexual - sexual exploitation, may or may not involve physical contact.
Emotional - attacks on a child's self image.
Abandonment - willful withholding of support and communication by a custodial parent.
-WHY-
Why should suspicions of child abuse be reported?
Everyone has a legal and moral obligation to report. Anyone who fails to report suspicion of child abuse to the child abuse hotline are guilty of a first degree misdemeanor, Preventing someone from making a report is also a first degree misdemeanor.
WHEN-
What constitutes suspicion of child abuse?
Child abuse should be suspected when a child exhibits physical or behavioral indicators and there are no other reasonable explanations for the presence of those indicators. A child's disclosure of abuse is also reasonable cause for suspicion.
When should a report be made?
When anyone has reasonable cause to suspect child abuse, a report must be made to the proper authorities, Police,
DCF, Child Abuse Councilor
| Watch this video The statistics are staggering  | Center for Youth Leadership
Why wait for someone else to make a difference?
CYL Alert
Paper Bags Project and other activities in
support of child abuse prevention in Connecticut
Background
Paper bags, chalk lines, tie-dye bedsheets, flowers and lawn signs are just a few of the props that the members of our Senators Community Foundation will use to raise awareness of child abuse during April, which is national child abuse awareness month.
“Although our child abuse awareness campaign is year-round, we make a special effort to host several activities in April,” said Tyler Calder of the Senators Community Foundation. “And this year we jump-started things with the Paper Bags Project on the South Lawn of the Capitol in Hartford. We cannot wait to do the other activities we have planned.”
Paper Bags Project
“We stand before you not as one voice, but as the voice of 120 students at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk who want child abuse to stop,” said Rhuana DaSilva, a member of the Senators Community Foundation. That’s how we started off our presentation at a press conference at the state Capitol in Hartford on April 2.
Hosted by Senator Bob Duff, the press conference was held in support of our Paper Bags Project, which is our newest public awareness activity. It includes the planting of 9,422 brown paper lunch bags, each of which represents a child who was abused last year in Connecticut. We were joined at the press conference by State Representatives Larry Cafero, Chris Perone and Bruce Morris; State Senator Judy Freedman; and Jeanne Milstein, Connecticut’s Child Advocate.
“Each bag represents countless hopes that have been damaged, some permanently, by the hand, voice and indifference of child abuse,” said Ruhana. “We realize that people in Connecticut have a lot of things to think about. There’s the home mortgage issue, the academic achievement gap, and, unfortunately, the deadly home invasion in New Britain that screamed at us from yesterday’s newspapers.
Those issues are important. But they oftentimes mask the steady drumbeat of child abuse. We’re concerned that too many people have been numbed into submission by the abuse of Connecticut’s children. It’s almost become part of people’s daily routine. ‘Prepare for my meeting at work today - check. Study for my biology exam – check. Shake my head in disbelief as I read about another case of child abuse – check. Go to sleep tonight without having done anything about child abuse – check.’ “
The gloved hands of Brittany Yelenik put down some of the 9,422 paper lunch
bags that were placed on the lawn of the state Capitol Wednesday by Yelenik,
a junior at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, and other students from the school.
The bags represent each child abused in Connecticut last year. Junior Sarah Stonehill
is in the background. Hartford Courant photo by Mark Mirko, April 3, 2008, p. B1.
Ruhana continued. “Many people do not realize that somewhere in Connecticut a child is abused as they watch their favorite one-hour show on television; that two children were abused during the UConn woman’s basketball game last night; or that three children will be abused during my SAT exam. We’re here today to remind people that they can do something, that they must do something to prevent child abuse.” Ruhana then listed a series of steps people can take to keep children safe from physical, emotional and verbal harm.
“The Paper Bags Project is one of the best things we’ve done to raise awareness,” said Michele Jimenez of the Senators Community Foundation. “It’s unique. It catches people’s attention. And it’s a vivid reminder of the work that still has to be done.”
Activities in April
Here is a list of some of the other activities we will lead in April to honor children who have been abused.
• Chairs Project includes the placement of 246 chairs in front of Norwalk City Hall. Each chair represents a child who was abused last year in Norwalk.
• Chalk Line Project is a simple powdered chalk line that we will roll out for four miles from the front of Brien McMahon High School to the front door of the Department of Children and Families’ office in Norwalk.
• SCF Day, which is when Brien McMahon High School is turned over to us for an entire day for child abuse awareness activities.
• House Party is our small-scale performance piece that we will perform for students at St. Matthew’s Church.
• We will do street outreach three weekends during the month at Stop and Shop and other locations. Members will distribute a hand-out about child abuse to passersby and ask them to sign a petition. The petition urges the Connecticut Department of Public Health to make background checks mandatory for summer camp employees and volunteers.
• We will continue our weekly volunteer time at Domestic Abuse Services in Greenwich and the Domestic Violence Crisis Center’s safe house in Norwalk. And we will host a fun group activity for children on April 9.
• As many of our readers know, we kicked off child abuse awareness month on March 29 with our 9th Annual Cabaret Night, which is a theater piece about an actual child abuse case. This year's show featured the story of Danielle Cramer, a 14-year-old girl from Bloomfield who was held captive and sexually abused for nine months by 39-year-old Adam Gault. A sold out audience of 250 attended the show at Toquet Hall in Westport.
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“What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor,
but the silence of the bystander.”
Eli Wiesel
For more information, please contact:
Center for Youth Leadership at Brien McMahon High School
300 Highland Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06854
203/852-9488
CYL Alert 18
April 3, 2008 |
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