Passers-by on Route WW on the city limits of Marshall may notice pale blue ribbons tied around the trunks and branches of budding trees. Over the last several years, we Americans have identified ribbons on homes and trees as a way of speaking out for a cause.

The "cause" of the pale blue ribbon is the prevention of child abuse. In Missouri, April has been designated Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The ribbons on the trees in front of Butterfield Youth Services on WW were placed there last week by some of the children who are residents of BYS.

The "Butterfield kids" are numbered among the more than 1,500 children in Missouri who live in residential facilities like BYS. Considering all children across Missouri living in foster homes, residential facilities, and in homes of relatives due to child abuse and neglect, the number exceeds 9,800. Statistic are available on Missouri Children's Division website at http://www.dss.mo.gov/cd/fostercare/fpstats.htm.

Before baby boomers like me started using ribbons to symbolize our causes, ribbons denoted happy times connected with childhood.

I remember my grandmother wrapping my unruly hair in ribbon rags on Saturday night so I would be presentable for church on Sunday.

Before the days of Velcro, I recall my older brother's patience with me as he taught me the art of making a ribbon bow on my sneakers.

I picture my older sisters carefully unraveling ribbon from cardboard spools, tying it into puffy bows, then curling the long end strands with a scissors as they made decorations for the wedding and baby showers which seemed to be a monthly occurrence in my large family.

It's a sad fact that not all kids have mostly happy memories of childhood. We read about some truly horrendous cases in the news; but many of the children across Missouri who are part of the 9,800 which I mentioned earlier are never reported about in the paper or on CNN. And there is another group of kids who haven't yet hit the "radar" of the state system, yet every day experience the uncertainty that marks their days: Will Mom care more about the shopping and cooking today than she cares about the meth? Will Dad come home from his long day in a good mood or will the stress of his day end with someone at home getting a beating? Will the "authorities" have an excuse to put the kids in foster care when someone discovers their family's current "home" is the '84 Chevy and the Wal-Mart restroom?

During this month, we will look at child abuse in Missouri: the causes and the prevailing thoughts about prevention.

Thanks for tuning in.