Reframing the issue: a new child maltreatment prevention message.

NC Med J September/October 2005, Volume 66, Number 5 orking with the media to mobilize the public in efforts to prevent child maltreatment has long been regarded as a vital component of a comprehensive child maltreatment prevention system. Public awareness activities play an important role in that they have the potential to reach diverse audiences— parents, professionals, community members—who are critical in protecting children and supporting families. Since the 1970s, child maltreatment prevention professionals have been implementing prevention campaigns across the country. Overall, they have been tremendously successful at making an issue out of child maltreatment and bringing it to the forefront of the public’s concerns. However, child maltreatment prevention public awareness efforts have become frayed and repetitive. Campaigns swing wildly from showing or implying graphic maltreatment to heartfelt messages trying to increase the “value” of children in parents’ eyes.