Child abuse hurts. End it now!

Child abuse hurts. End it now!

The National Family Violence Networking System (NFVNS) announced today the winners of the ‘Design Your Own Sweet Dreams’ Contest at the “Sweet Dreams Family Fiesta” at Suntec City Mall.

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Aimed at raising awareness among primary school children on the issue of Child Abuse, the two-day event played host to 10,000 children and their families who learnt more about child abuse through fun-filled games and activities from 26 to 27 November 2011.

On-site learning stations also enabled children to access the interactive Child Abuse outreach website – www.tellsomeone.com.sg and find out about the various forms of abuse, understand how they can protect themselves and to tell someone about potential abuse situations.

The “Sweet Dreams Family Fiesta” also featured the prize presentation to the winners of the ‘Design Your Own Sweet Dreams’ contest, a nationwide competition through the Child Abuse Outreach website. Students were encouraged to come up with an ending they hoped to see to a fictitious story, based on the overall theme of the outreach.

Close to 1,000 entries were received across the primary school community. Mr Jason Wong, Senior Director of the Rehabilitation, Protection and Residential Services Division (MCYS), and Co-Chairperson of NFVNS said: “The overwhelming response from primary schools is indeed a heartening sign that our latest outreach efforts has reached out to a large segment of the community. We will continue with more public education outreach to raise greater awareness and encourage all Singaporeans to do their part in ensuring the safety and well-being of our children”.

Mr Lee Kim Hwa, Director (Rehabilitation, Protection and Residential Services Division, MCYS) with GOH, Mr Sam Tan, and the winners of the “Design Your Own Sweet Dreams’” Contest and “Learn, Spin & Win” interactive game.

A panel of NFVNS representatives comprising the Police, MCYS, Singapore Children’s Society, KKH and NUH selected the top four submissions based on the following criteria: creativity and originality in the storyline and design as well as the effectiveness at communicating their understanding of the topic of Child Abuse.

The top four prizes in the student categories were presented by Guest-of-Honour, Mr Sam Tan, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, at the “Sweet Dreams Family Fiesta” on 27 November 2011. The school category for most number of entries received was awarded to Endeavor Primary School and the runner-up prize was awarded to Pei Tong Primary School. Please see enclosed Annex A for the list of winning entries.

Mr Tan said, “We hope that the initiative will resonate with Singaporeans – both young and old – to raise greater awareness and encourage everyone to play their part in creating an environment that is safe and protected for children.  This is one of the steps towards achieving our shared vision of a violence-free environment for families.”