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| "If I was handed this card before I abused, I'd probably walk right away." Abuser in Treatment |
Parent's are doing a great job teaching their children body-safety rules (yay!), but as I've said before, body-safety rules alone are not enough.
Here’s why: First, when you rely solely on your child to speak up to an abuser or potential abuser, you’re putting the burden of responsibility on your children for keeping themselves safe, when it’s actually a parent’s responsibility. Second, when you have the courage to talk with a substitute caregiver (teacher, coach, nanny, tutor, etc.), you’re letting them know that you are paying attention. And based on my conversations with child sexual abusers, a substitute caregiver, who is a sexual abuser, is less inclined to groom a child whose parent says, "May I tell you about my child's body-safety rules?"
Here’s why: First, when you rely solely on your child to speak up to an abuser or potential abuser, you’re putting the burden of responsibility on your children for keeping themselves safe, when it’s actually a parent’s responsibility. Second, when you have the courage to talk with a substitute caregiver (teacher, coach, nanny, tutor, etc.), you’re letting them know that you are paying attention. And based on my conversations with child sexual abusers, a substitute caregiver, who is a sexual abuser, is less inclined to groom a child whose parent says, "May I tell you about my child's body-safety rules?"
I want to make it easier for you to have these conversations
and urge everyone to spend $10 to buy a set of 25 Conversation-Starter Cards.
The front of the card offers language for starting a conversation and the back
of the card offers a couple of facts about child sexual abuse. Carry the cards
in your purse, car, pocket, of fold a couple and put them in your wallet, and
share them to get a conversation off the ground.
In the words of an abuser in treatment:
“If I was handed this card before I abused, I’d probably walk right away.”
In the words of two PSC moms:
“We had one of the cards sitting on the counter when we had a new babysitter over and it led us into a great conversation about our body-safety practices.”
“This card makes it easier to start conversations and in two weeks I’ve gone from having 30% of my caregivers on our prevention team to 50%!”
Can you imagine if every parent walked up to their kid's coach and handed them this card. Oh my gosh, it would be life changing!
ReplyDeleteYes, parents would be 1. Inviting their children's caregivers to be part if their prevention team to keep their kids safe and 2. letting the world know their child is off limits!
ReplyDelete