As News staff writer Temi Fadayomi reported recently, April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.

This month and every month, we all can play a role in preventing child abuse, whether or not we have kids.

Research suggests stress, tiredness, and lack of parenting skills are the biggest causes of child abuse.

So the most important role we can play is one of support for both children and their parents.

We can reach out to our neighbors, offer help when they need it, even offering to watch their kids to give them a night off. We can volunteer with local schools, churches, and youth sports teams.

The more help we can offer our neighbors and their children, the more we might alleviate that stress and tiredness that increases the risk of abuse.

At the very least, the closer we are to our neighbors and others in our community, the more easily we might notice something amiss and report suspected abuse or neglect to the proper authorities.

The group Prevent Child Abuse America says we can do other things, to, including:

∫ Encourage our local governments, churches, nonprofits, and others to get involved in preventing child abuse and supporting organizations that combat child abuse.

∫ Check with our local libraries to see if they have parenting resources available and, if not, offer to help the library obtain such resources.

∫ Encourage our local school boards to teach parents, students, and teachers child abuse prevention skills.

∫ Volunteer with a local child abuse prevention organization. Call 1-800-CHILDREN to find out how.

∫ Report suspected child abuse when you see it.

The responsibility to prevent child abuse lies with all of us.