Talk to your child
- Be calm and do not try to scare your child; Use a neutral tone that empowers. Make sure your child knows that your will always be there for them and that they can tell you anything.
- Teach your child that parts of their body are private and that no one should see or touch them there.
- Use anatomically correct (penis, vagina, etc.) names for body parts to normalize talk in your home about private parts. Do not give pet or nick names to body parts.
Ask Questions
- Watch for changes in your child’s behavior. Ask simple, open-ended questions such as “Has anyone ever made you feel scared or uncomfortable? Has anyone ever asked you to keep a secret?”
- Help them identify safe people in their life they can talk to if anyone ever makes them feel uncomfortable.
Know the policies and practices where your child spends time
- Minimize opportunity by eliminating or reducing one-on-one situations between a child and adult.
- Ensure that the organization does background checks on staff and volunteers
- Confirm that policies are in place to ban adults from being alone with your child and away from others
- Require all staff to be trained annually on child safety and mandated reporting.
Child Abuse is a complex problem and these are only a few tips on how to prevent abuse, for more in-depth information and discussion, take the Darkness to Light-Stewards of Children training and check out the links below:
https://calio.org/images/parents-can-help-prevent-csa.pdf
