5 Steps to Protect Our Children

A couple of weeks ago, the VISTAs at MCCOY went through Stewards of Children child sexual abuse prevention training.  I ate dinner with my boyfriend the night before, and was surprised to feel the nervous butterflies in my stomach when I talked with him and considered what this training might entail.

“I wonder if it’s going to be anything like the ‘good touch, bad touch’ talk we had in school?”  I remember that day in elementary school well.  Our tight-lipped teachers herded us into a classroom where a guest speaker sat in a rocking chair with two felt dolls at her feet—one boy and one girl.  As a child, I was terrified of both dolls and strangers, so the message was especially resonant for me.

My homeschooled boyfriend was lucky and never had to experience the trauma of sitting in a small room with a stranger who pointed out the “no-go zones” on creepy dolls. 

“My mom just sat down with us and we had a conversation about it,” he said, with no trace of anxiety or discontent with the way he was taught to stay safe from potential harm.

And that’s similar to the format for Stewards of Children; this training is a conversation between adults to learn how best to protect children from sexual abuse.  There are no scare tactics, no strangers, and no felt dolls involved.   Instead, the training “helps provide adults with the capacity and momentum to take action against child sexual abuse.”  In essence, the three-hour session opens up a conversation between people who are invariably responsible for at least one child in their lives, and gives adults the opportunity to talk about, understand, and prevent a semi-taboo issue.  

During training, we were armed with a list of “5 Steps to Protecting Our Children.”  I’m going to give you two of those five steps, and encourage you to attend this training to learn the other three (see how sneaky I am)! 

STEP 1: Learn the Facts of Child Sexual Abuse

It is highly likely that you know a child who has been or is being abused.

Experts estimate that 1 in 10 children are sexually abused before their 18th birthday. This means that in any classroom or neighborhood full of children, there are children who are silently bearing the burden of sexual abuse.

1 in 5 children are sexually solicited while on the Internet.

About 35% of victims are 11 years old or younger.

30 to 40% of children are abused by family members.

As many as 60% are abused by people the family trusts.

STEP 2: Minimize Opportunity for Child Sexual Abuse

Reduce risk. Protect children.

Understand that abusers often become friendly with potential victims and their families, enjoying family activities, earning trust, and gaining time alone with children.

Think carefully about the safety of any isolated, one-on-one settings. Choose group situations when possible.

Set an example by personally avoiding isolated, one-on-one situations with children other than your own.

Monitor children's Internet use. Offenders use the Internet to lure children into physical contact.

Please visit www.d2l.org to learn more about Stewards of Children training and preventative strategies, or visit MCCOY’s webpage to view upcoming trainings in Marion County!

Works Cited:
Steps and Data collected from www.d2l.org
Picture from http://www.amamantafamily.com/dollsorderpage.htm