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anonsouthernbell
member
Info on Protecting your Child/ren from Sexual Abuse
anonsouthernbell
member
I rec'd this in an email and thought that it had some great info. so I thought that I would pass it along...
"I attended a presentation by Feather Berkower about how to protect your children from sexual abuse and it was very informative - definitely recommend it if you can attend one yourself. She has also recently written a book which I have not read, but imagine would cover the same info as her workshop.
She talks about a lot of things, including the fact that most children are abused by someone they know. There is a grooming period where an abuser develops a relationship and gains the child's trust and often one of the things they do is get a child to keep secrets (starting with small things like secret ice cream treats or watching TV when they aren't supposed and building from there). She encourages you to tell your child secrets are never OK (distinguishes them from "surprises", something like a birthday present that will make the other person happy when they find out).
She also encourages you to talk about body safety rules with your children (they are the boss of their body) so they know what is okay and not okay, and to use the proper terms for their genitals instead of nicknames. Also you should interview anyone who will care for your child (babysitter, playdates, preschool, church youth group) etc and talk to them about your body safety rules. A predator wants an easy target, not a difficult one who knows about their body and will tell if something happens. By enaging in this dialogue with your child you make them "off-limits" to abusers.
Here is her website:
https://parentingsafechildren.com/"
"I attended a presentation by Feather Berkower about how to protect your children from sexual abuse and it was very informative - definitely recommend it if you can attend one yourself. She has also recently written a book which I have not read, but imagine would cover the same info as her workshop.
She talks about a lot of things, including the fact that most children are abused by someone they know. There is a grooming period where an abuser develops a relationship and gains the child's trust and often one of the things they do is get a child to keep secrets (starting with small things like secret ice cream treats or watching TV when they aren't supposed and building from there). She encourages you to tell your child secrets are never OK (distinguishes them from "surprises", something like a birthday present that will make the other person happy when they find out).
She also encourages you to talk about body safety rules with your children (they are the boss of their body) so they know what is okay and not okay, and to use the proper terms for their genitals instead of nicknames. Also you should interview anyone who will care for your child (babysitter, playdates, preschool, church youth group) etc and talk to them about your body safety rules. A predator wants an easy target, not a difficult one who knows about their body and will tell if something happens. By enaging in this dialogue with your child you make them "off-limits" to abusers.
Here is her website:
https://parentingsafechildren.com/"
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Re: Info on Protecting your Child/ren from Sexual Abuse
All of that is great info but I just have one other thing to offer. I'm a social worker and work with children who have been abused and a good number of them have been abused at school by another child. Teachers are still sending children to the bathroom in pairs and that should never happen. It is a prime time for one child to perpetrate on another. Children should be sent in 3's to the bathroom to help alleviate this issue.
I had no idea and I taught for 5 years! (I would send the kids solo during class time, otherwise we all went as a class w/as many kids in the bathroom as there were stalls).
YW