Three hundred rainbow pinwheels spin in the breeze in Longmont’s Roosevelt Park, next to a sign with a troubling statistic: one in 10 kids will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday.
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and the pinwheels are part of Project Pinwheel, a symbol for child abuse prevention. The pinwheel garden paired with the sign are meant to raise awareness and help prevent child abuse, explained Trish Wood, education manager for Blue Sky Bridge.
“All these opportunities exist to start the conversation,” Wood said. “That’s really what we want. That’s how we prevent this from happening.”
The pinwheels, placed on Monday by members of Blue Sky Bridge, represent the 300 Boulder County children that the nonprofit sees for forensic interviews annually. Forensic interviews are part of the child advocacy work provided by Blue Sky Bridge.
“It just provides a safe, neutral place for a child to come tell their story,” explained Don Shires, director of development and outreach for the nonprofit.
Instead of an abused child having to tell their story over and over again to a caseworker, police officer, counselor, attorney and more, they can tell it once to a multidisciplinary team and get the resources they need to begin healing.
Even though one in 10 children will be victims of sexual abuse before they turn 18, most victims never report the abuse and 90% of child victims know their abuser.
Along with the child advocacy programs, Blue Sky Bridge provides school-based education directly to children to help them learn about body safety and boundaries.
The nonprofit works with the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley school districts to provide age-appropriate lessons on body safety for children in elementary schools. Shires said the organization helped educate 1,200 kids in January alone.
Wood explained that just like parents have to repeatedly remind their children to put on a seatbelt, conversations about body safety should be ongoing.
“It’s not a one time conversation,” she said. “It’s an ongoing conversation that grows with them as they age.”
For parents unsure where to start these types of conversations, Wood recommends first using the correct names for body parts, like penis and vagina — something only 47% of parents do. Doing so empowers children to identify their bodies and makes them feel more comfortable talking about any issues of sexual abuse.
“There’s just this reluctance to talk about it because it feels really overwhelming,” Wood said. “So, start with something small like using the anatomically correct names for body parts.”
To stop and prevent child abuse, children first need to report it, which can be a difficult step. The organization emphasizes that just starting the conversation can help.
“We want people to talk to their kids,” Shires said. “At the end of the day, what can anybody do? Just talk to your kids.”
Learn more about the Pinwheel Project and steps to keep kids safe at www.longmontpinwheel.org. Learn more about Blue Sky Bridge at blueskybridge.org/.
