10. Teach #1-9 to Kids & Discuss them Often
One of the easiest and most powerful ways to prevent child abuse is to talk about it.
We've written these 10 Ways to Prevent for adults, but kids need to know them as well. Talk to the kids in your life often about personal boundaries, consent, grooming, the definition of abuse, and statistics about abuse. Let's normalize these topics so that everyone feels more comfortable talking about them.
Abuse thrives in secrecy & silence.
We can talk about ourselves at first ("You're in my personal space right now. Can you please scoot a few inches?" OR "May I hug you now?" OR "I felt unsafe at that meeting at work yesterday.") to ease the transition. After a while, the kid will mimic our conversation, at which time we can become curious listeners.
Terrified about talking to your kids about sexual abuse & trafficking?
