
DATE: Wednesday, March 26, 1997             TAG: 9703270698

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   89 lines

CANDLELIT CEREMONY HELD AT BEACH FOCUSES ON ABUSED CHILDREN

There were no faces of the abused at this ceremony, no names of the neglected, only flickering candle flames.

The candles - 548 in all - represented the abuse and neglect cases in the city of Virginia Beach last year, and were lit in a ceremony Tuesday to raise awareness of child victims.

In addition to those candles, nine more were lit, and then snuffed out, to represent the nine children in Virginia's eastern region who died of abuse and neglect last year.

The object of the Virginia Beach Candlelight Ceremony for Abused and Neglected Children was to encourage people to reach out to child victims who are still alive, to help those whose abuse might never have been reported, and to remember those children for whom help never came.

``There were over 3,000 complaints brought to our attention last year,'' said Daniel Stone, who directs the city's Department of Social Services. ``We can only imagine the number that never got reported to us. We must be vigilant and keep spreading the message.''

While the children were not called by name at the ceremony on the steps of Virginia Beach City Hall, they were described by abuse:

A 17-year-old boy whose parents left him alone one night. And then never returned.

A 10-year-old girl who was forced by her parents to have intercourse with her brothers.

A newborn baby whose parents left him at the hospital.

A 7-month-old baby who was fed so little he weighed only 7 pounds.

A 7-year-old girl hit so hard with switches that her legs bled.

``Our children are sometimes invisible,'' said Candace Feathers, a Child Protective Services supervisor and chairwoman of the Virginia Beach Child Advocacy Network, which organized the event. ``They are being hurt and we don't always recognize that.''

The evening was filled with symbols for the 150 people who attended the ceremony: White roses to represent the lost innocence of sexually abused children. A clothes line with T-shirts representing each child who died of abuse in 1996, with words written on them like, ``Boy. 1 year. Beaten and shaken.'' A banner with handprints of children who live in homes that have been torn by domestic abuse.

``This is a generational problem,'' said Judge Ronald Marks, chief judge of the Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. ``Children abused and neglected today may grow up to abuse peers and friends. And as they grow older, they may abuse their spouses and their children. The problem can only be solved by all of us being aware there is a problem.''

Edith Duggan, who directs the Virginia Beach Court Appointed Special Advocates, said she hopes the candles will make people aware of just how many children are touched by abuse and neglect every year.

``When I talk with people about child abuse, their eyes glaze over. It's as though they're thinking, `That's not a problem for me. I don't abuse my children.' But it's everybody's problem because it effects us all.''

Although the flames of Tuesday's candles only lasted a few minutes, a string of blue lights also adorned a tree in front of City Hall. Those lights will be lit a few hours every day during the month of April, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Virginia Beach residents who would like to volunteer in helping children can call the Volunteer Council line, 427-4722, for information. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

EVENTS

1997 Child Abuse Prevention Month Activities:

April 1: Hampton Child Protection Team Blue Candle Ceremony,

Hampton City Hall, 7p.m.

April 5: Portsmouth Child Abuse Prevention Rally, Cradock Square

on Afton Parkway, 11 a.m. to 5p.m.

April 9: Hampton Child Protection Team Celebrity Lunch, Holiday

Inn, noon.

April 12: Norfolk Youth Forum, Lake Taylor High School, 8:15a.m.

to 11 a.m.

April 12: Chesapeake Child Fair at Chesapeake City Park,

sponsored by Independent Order of Foresters, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.