Nathan Deal: “too often we ignore the caldron of neglect, violence, and moral decay that pervades our society until its poison boils…”

“too often we ignore the caldron of neglect, violence, and moral decay that pervades our society until its poison boils over into our own lives. On January 16, 1996, that occurred in my community of Gainesville, Hall County, GA, when a 19-month-old young boy, Austin Sparks, was brutally beaten to death by his baby-sitter. As we are now in this first anniversary period of Austin Sparks' death, the Hall County community has undertaken a campaign to fight child abuse by implementing the blue ribbon campaign in his memory. These small blue ribbons help remind us to be aware of child abuse every day of every year. Another positive that has come out of this tragedy is the purchase of a permanent home in Gainesville to assess the needs of abused children. The Children's Center will provide multiagency interviews for child abuse victims. We must all work together to end this cycle of child abuse in our country.”