Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day is April 26th this year, are you ready? The official theme this year is "Build Opportunity: 20 Years of Education, Empowerment, Experience." If your organization doesn't already have an official program for the day, now is the time to help them plan one. The event is just one week away, so let's get moving!

Planning for the Event

Resource materials are available on the official website, which includes links to info about the program, activities, and guides for employers, teachers, and parents. The site also offers a newsroom, their online store, and a link to their Facebook page. The activities page features mad libs, an activity book, and the 2012 Activity Guide for parents. 

Don't Think Of it as Career Day

The Activity Guide includes discussion questions to help parents talk to their children about employment, education, and their futures. The program is designed to help show children that education and planning are valuable. The program also aims to help kids understand that a balance between work and family is important and realistic.

Follow up and Discuss

Follow up is important - both while you are still at your workplace and later at home. The Activity Guide provides a great deal of discussion questions to get you started, but certainly add to it as needed. Follow up with your child about the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day again a few days after the event. Check if they have any additional questions or if there's anything you can do to help make sure they are on the right track to their dream career.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month in the United States, but that doesn't mean you need to live in the US to prevent child abuse. Child abuse prevention starts with pregnancy planning and contraception. Families with a large number of children and families who have unintended children pose an increased risk of child abuse and/or neglect. 

Last year, more than 900,000 children in the United States alone were victims of neglect and abuse. Child abuse IS preventable but it requires community support and programs for both parents and children. Pregnancy planning and birth control can help prevent unplanned pregnancies, but beyond that, educational programs and support are still needed. 

Counseling programs are also needed for parents who were once abused or neglected. They may additional require education about how to properly care for and support a child's development. Often when a child is abused or neglected, beyond the initial trauma of the event, they are also unable to learn what it means to be properly cared for in a loving and safe home. It may, in turn, be difficult for that child, as an adult, to care for their own children.

The time to stop child abuse and neglect is now and the way to do it is by breaking the cycle.

Find out about how you can get involved now by visiting the Child Welfare Information Gateway and learning more about National Child Abuse Prevention Month.