HOME & AWAY STARS BECOME CHILDHOOD HEROES

27 July 2006: Kate Ritchie and Chris Hemsworth, from Channel Seven’s Home & Away, have joined the Australian Childhood Foundation’s annual ‘Become a Childhood Hero’ appeal launching on August 1.

Both stars are getting behind the foundation’s nation wide drawing challenge, running in primary schools during the Become a Childhood Hero month, with entries closing on 23 August. If your local school wants to get involved visit www.childhoodhero.com.au

Using art and comic strips to tell a story, children will be asked to identify their everyday heroes. Students lucky enough to win the coveted prize will have their award presented by their heroes, Kate and Chris at their school.

Kate, a recent contestant on Channel Seven’s ‘It Takes Two’, identifies with the importance of supporting all Australian children:

“Become a Childhood Hero is all about celebrating the fun, innocence and importance of childhood. Anyone can be a hero to a child by making them feel special, loved and cared for.

Childhood heroes make a profound and lasting difference for children throughout their entire lives, it is important that we recognise everyday heroes like mums and dads.” she said.

Chris, who plays Home & Away’s Kym Hyde, believes that people’s characters are most predominately shaped by their experiences during childhood:

“Our early years of development are our most important because this is when our opinions of ourselves, of others and of the world around us are formed. It is critical for children to have good role models during this period of their lives.

I hope that by supporting the Australian Childhood Foundation and making sure every child is important, it may encourage others to Become a Childhood Hero.” he said.

Both Kate and Chris nominate their parents as their own Childhood Heroes and believe that all parents are given the opportunity to be an every day hero to their children simply by giving them the support and encouragement they deserve.

The critical role of parents in the lives of children is confirmed in a recent study* conducted by the Australian Childhood Foundation, with 87% of children indicating that ‘family is the most important thing to me’ and 93% citing family as a source of help when they need it.

Through celebrity and public support the goal of Become a Childhood Hero is to raise funds for the Australian Childhood Foundation and its works to prevent child abuse.

Anyone can be a hero by donating to the Australian Childhood Foundation’s ‘Become a Childhood Hero’ appeal. Visit www.childhood.org.au or call 1800 176 453. You can also go into any ANZ bank in NSW and Victoria and donate.

*The results are to be published in a report by Tucci, J., Mitchell, J. and Goddard, C. (2006). Every Child Needs a Hero – A report tracking Australian children’s attitudes and concerns about childhood. Australian Childhood Foundation and the National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse at Monash University.

The study is based on a survey conducted by Quantum Market Research with a nationally representative sample of 989 children and young people aged between 10-17 years.

About the Australian Childhood Foundation:

The Australian Childhood Foundation works to give children a happy and secure childhood - a childhood free from the devastation of abuse, family violence and neglect.

We have supported more than 1 million families through our parenting education and resource programs throughout Australia, including helping more than 100 000 parents from different cultural backgrounds to improve their parenting knowledge and confidence through the distribution of resources that have been translated into 16 languages.

We have delivered specialist counseling programs to over 3 000 children who have been traumatised by abuse and family violence and provided specialist telephone advice to 10 000 people who have wanted to know how to protect and support 25 000 abused and neglected children.

We have trained over 10 000 health, legal, welfare and education professionals about child abuse and family violence. We have also run community education programs to raise awareness about the causes and consequences of child abuse and family violence. More than 250 000 adults nationally have learnt how to identify and report child abuse.

We have been instrumental in changing laws to keep children safe from abuse. We have also campaigned to make sure that those adults who hurt and assault children are given stronger prison sentences for example the introduction of mandatory reporting of child abuse, the introduction of national sex offender and the introduction of the screening of people working with children.

We have also established the National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse at Monash University in partnership with the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.

 

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