Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and the Kansas State Child Death Review Board are encouraging Kansans to wear blue on April 5 to increase awareness of child abuse. The effort is part of April’s observance of Child Abuse Prevention Month and the Blue Ribbon Campaign to Prevent Child Abuse. “Keeping a watchful eye for the signs of child abuse can help protect Kansas children,” Schmidt said. “We all have a responsibility to help keep children safe.”

April was first declared as Child Abuse Prevention Month by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. The Blue Ribbon Campaign to Prevent Child Abuse was begun in 1989 by a Virginia grandmother in memory of her grandson, who died due to child abuse.