Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1361452
4 UCW APRIL 14-20, 2021 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR April Olsen editor@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Keyuri Parab REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, Pitt Dickey, D.G. Martin, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Prudence Mainor, Crissy Neville COVER IMAGERY Cover photo and imagery for cover articles courtesy of Methodist University Marketing. ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: 910-484-6200- FAX: 910-484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. © 2020 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN National Child Abuse Prevention Month: Raising awareness to protect our children by DR. SHANESSA FENNER 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU APR 15 FRI APR 16 SAT APR 17 SUN APR 18 MON APR 19 TUE APR 20 74 56 74 53 71 52 69 50 67 49 71 48 Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy PM Showers AM Showers Mostly Sunny Association of Community Publishers Publisher Bill Bowman yields his space this week to Dr. Shanessa Fenner, who shares an up close and personal educa- tor's perspective on the importance of raising awareness of child abuse prevention. I remember my first year as an elementary teacher. I decided that I wanted to sit all of my students in a circle on the carpet and have a discussion about appropriate and in- appropriate touching. ey sat there and looked at me while listening at- tentively to every word that I said. After the conversation one of my girls walked up to me and grabbed my hand. She told me that she had something to tell me. She told me that someone had inappropriately touched her. I told my teacher's assistant to watch the kids and we ran to the front office. I was so upset. Of course the authorities were con- tacted but I remember thinking that I am going to talk to my babies on a consistent basis about this because I have to protect them. e years have passed by, but I still think about her from time and time and hope she is doing okay. April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds in the United States. At least one in seven children have experienced child abuse and/or neglect in the past year. e Administration for Children & Families report a national estimate of 1,840 children died from abuse and neglect in 2019 compared to 1,780 children who died in 2018. Rates of child abuse and neglect are five times higher for children in families with a low socioeconomic status compared to children in families with a higher socioeconomic status. e Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about one in four girls and one in 13 boys experi- ence child sex abuse at some point in their childhood. Some of the signs of sexual abuse include difficulty walk- ing or sitting, sleeping with clothes on, age inappropriate bedwetting, runs away, not wanting to go to the bathroom, and sexual behavior or knowledge inappropriate for a child. Signs of neglect entail being dirty or has a body odor, frequent absences from school, begs or steals food, de- velopmentally delayed, and not hav- ing the right clothes for the weather. General symptoms of abuse include low grades in school, mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem, unusual interaction with parent, and slower than normal development. e impact of child abuse does not end when the abuse stops. ese children may experience depression, anxiety disorders, poor self-esteem, aggressive behavior, suicide attempts, alcohol and drug abuse, post-trau- matic stress, and other difficulties. Some states require all adults to report suspicions of child abuse or neglect. It is not your job to investi- gate, just report what you suspect. If you suspect a child is being abused call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453. DR. SHANESSA FENNER, Principal, WT Brown Elementary School. Contribut- ing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upand- comingweekly.com. (910) 484-6200 Child abuse (n) — physical, sexual or psychological mistreatment or neglect of a child by a parent or other caregiver.