Did You Know? June 21st is National ASK Day

ASK Day is a national day of focus on the lifesaving message of the ASK (Asking Saves Kids) campaign. ASK Day will take place on Saturday, June 21, 2008, the first day of summer, a time of year when children play more often in other homes.

Parents ask all sorts of questions to protect their children when they go play at the home of a friend, neighbor or relative. But there is one important question that more than half of parents say it never even occurred to them to ask: "Is there a gun where my child plays?"

Forty percent of homes with children have guns, and the ASK campaign offers free materials for professionals to encourage parents to ASK if there are guns where their children play. You can download the ASK Day Kit which contains details, ideas and materials to organize an ASK Day event. Please visit the Real Solutions to Gun Violence website for more details about this day.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: June 15

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was held on June 15th this year. It was a call to action for individuals, organizations, and communities to raise awareness about elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. Please visit www.inpea.net for a free "Community Guide to Raise World Awareness on Adult Abuse Tool Kit" which was produced by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA). It has sample ideas and templates for activities, as well as examples of materials, resources, proclamations and messages. World Elder Abuse Awareness day was organized to support the UN's International Plan of Action, which recognizes the significance of elder abuse as a public health and human right's issue (Gerontology News, 2008).