Winter often conjures images of holiday gatherings and breaks from school, but for many children, the season does not appear so bright, according to George Rogers Clark Counselor Micky Little.

“Child trauma goes up with winter and the holidays, as does domestic violence,” Little said.

In an effort to combat this trend, Little, the former counselor at Justice Elementary, and others at the school have started a campaign to remind people to take a moment and be kind to a child.

“We started in April when I was still at Justice,” Little said. “April is Child Abuse Awareness Month.”

Using a grant from The Greater Clark Foundation, the school designed and purchased 50 signs reading “Stop child abuse. Be kind to kids. It feels good to be loved.”

He said the signs will be put up around town in areas where they will be noticed by drivers. The inspiration for the campaign came from the various “slow down” signs displayed in different places across the county.

“When I first saw one of those I wasn’t sure if it was about speeding or not, but it did manage to get my attention,” Little said. “If people see these signs every day we hope it will help to reinforce the idea with them. It’s so sad to see the things you see every day, kids denied basic needs. It doesn’t take money, things like care, love and just talking to them. This is a reminder that no matter how busy your life is it’s not too busy to take time and be kind to kids.”

Little said the staff at the school were assisted in the campaign by Justice’s Lighthouse students. Lighthouse, a part of the school’s Leader in Me program, serves as the voice of the student body, similar to a student government.

The signs will be posted around town soon, he said.