Hundreds of pinwheels were spinning in the wind this week on the grassy area between the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Schine Student Center.

They were part of an effort by the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, Falk, Kappa Omicron Nu — the national honor society for child and family studies majors — and the Syracuse University chapter of the Society of Public Health Education, which raised money and awareness for National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Falk, the student groups and the child advocacy center planted a garden of 1,000 blue and silver pinwheels in total to support the cause.

Last Thursday and Friday, the groups also collaborated with the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center to sell pinwheels and wristbands for $1 in Falk College and Ernie Davis Hall. It’s all a part of the Pinwheels for Prevention awareness campaign that the center participates in every April, said Brooke Tyszka, an academic counselor in Falk’s Office of Student Services. All proceeds raised went to the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center.

The campaign at SU raised $118, said Sara Mileski, the president of Kappa Omicron Nu, which she believes is successful. Mileski and the leaders of SOPHE are already planning new methods for fundraising to improve the growth in donations and awareness for next year’s campaign, she said.

Pinwheels for Prevention is a national campaign in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month that places blue pinwheels throughout the community, said Emily Alber Chase, an administrative assistant at the McMahon/Ryan Center.

“The idea is that you want every child to have a happy, carefree, loving childhood and so the symbol of the pinwheel kind of represents that,” Alber Chase said.

Four years ago, a Falk student interned at the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center, Tyszka said. The student suggested that SU should participate in the Pinwheels for Prevention awareness campaign.

“In Falk College, we have students that will be working with children in their future careers and who really care about this issue, so that’s why it’s so important for our students, in particular, to be involved with this project and to raise awareness,” she said.

In honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month, Alber Chase said the clock tower at Crouse Hospital will be illuminated by a blue light for the remainder of the month.

The McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center, which opened in 1998, provides all of the services an abused child needs within the same building, she said. The center assists families and their children in Onondoga County, and last year the center assisted more than 700 children in the county.

One in 10 children will be sexually abused before the age of 18, Alber Chase said, and 90 percent of sexually abused children have been abused by someone they know.

“There’s a lot of warning signs. If you just see a child you know acting a little differently, even just abnormal bumps and bruises, there’s a lot you can do if you know what to look for,” she said.

Although the campaign has not raised a lot of money through donations, Tyszka said the “striking” pinwheel garden between Newhouse and Schine has been successful in raising overall awareness about child abuse on campus.

Said Tyszka: “A lot of people forget about children, and children’s needs kind of get swept under the rug a lot, so it’s good for this age group to start thinking about what they can do to help.”

Published on April 17, 2014 at 2:03 am

Contact Anna: almerod@syr.edu