from the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies
Every October Children’s Aid Societies across the province raise awareness about the role that adults and communities play in supporting vulnerable children, youth, and families. On Ontario Dress Purple Day, we partner with boards of education, schools, and child care to speak up for every child and youth’s right to safety and well-being in all spaces and to celebrate the community that cares for kids.
This year Ontario Dress Purple Day will take place on Thursday, October 24, 2019.
Ontario Dress Purple Day offers an important opportunity to raise awareness among elementary, middle, and high school students about their right to safety and well-being. To support this important goal, and in response to inquest recommendations, we have developed provincial classroom prevention resources to support teachers and education professionals to engage with their students in conversations about safety and well-being in all aspects of their lives and to help them identify their networks of support.
The classroom resources are evidence-based, primary prevention materials, empowering students to think and act in positive ways, appropriate for their age and stage of learning and development. The goal of the materials is to help all children and youth, regardless of the situation they are in, to acquire skills and attributes that lessen their vulnerability to harm. You can learn more about the research informing the Ontario Dress Purple classroom resources by reading these articles on Getting Help, Self-Esteem, and Physical Touch. Learn more about how neglect of basic needs can impact children and youth here.
John Joseph Kelso, an Irish immigrant to Canada in 1874 at the age of ten, is largely acknowledged to be the founder of child welfare in Ontario. “John Joseph Kelso did more than any other person in nineteenth-century Canada to improve the lives of poor and needy children. Perceptive and energetic, a persuasive speaker and convincing writer, he brought their experiences and requirements to the attention of a largely apathetic public.”
Learn about how Children’s Aid Societies support children and families where neglect is a concern here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K37Aj5ZrCWM.
