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Children's Memorial Flag Calls Attention To Child Deaths In U.S.
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. 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 display of the Children's Memorial Flag at any time that a child dies from violence and throughout April, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The Children's Memorial Flag depicts linked silhouettes of children, with one missing from the chain. As in past years, it will be flown over buildings across the country on the fourth Friday of April, and at others times when a child or teen dies violently.
Over the past few years, the fourth Friday of April has come to be known as National Children's Memorial Flag Day, when agencies and organizations 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 idea for a special children's 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 and the Mayor of the District of Columbia 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.
This past April, on the fourth Friday of the month, 50 governors, several mayors, numerous organizations and lots of local groups and agencies participated by flying the flag, arranging special ceremonies, convening representatives of groups that are committed to protect children, and heightening public awareness of the need for communities to help vulnerable children and families.
In addition, many national organizations helped promote the Children's Memorial Flag with their affiliates and chapters, among them United Way, National League of Cities, National District Attorneys Association, National Association of Social Workers, National 4-H Center, American Psychological Association, and National Mental Health Association. Many of CWLA's nearly 800 member agencies also fly the flag.
CWLA is a 80-year-old association of public and private, nonprofit agencies that help abused, neglected, abandoned and otherwise vulnerable children and youth and their families. This nonpartisan organization is a leading child advocate and works for federal legislation to improve life for children, especially those who are at risk. To order the Children's Memorial Flag, which is available in two sizes, visit the Giftables webpage at www.cwla.org/pubs or call 800/ASK-CWLA.
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