How to Empower Kids & Raise Sexual Assault Awareness
Parents often begin teaching their kids about safety from a young age. They’d teach them to stay away from a hot stove or look both ways before crossing the street. However, major safety issues, such as sexual assault awareness, are never on their agenda. They put it off thinking they’d talk “when kids are old enough” to understand. Until it becomes too late and they live through that horror.
Stats on Sexual Assault in the US
According to the research carried out by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), approx. 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 4 boys experience sexual assault before they turn 18. What’s even scarier? Some reports say that 8 out of 10 sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim.
Parents detest the idea of anything remotely similar happening to their kids. They think not leaving their kids with strangers or keeping them in their line of sight is enough to keep them safe. However, the fact is nobody can fully deter the risk of a child getting victimized by sexual assault.
Now that you are scared to death, let’s calm back down and look at every possible measure you can take to avoid living that nightmare. We cannot raise our kids in a bubble. They must go out into the world and create a life for themselves. But, we can prepare them to stay safe by arming them with various safety tools. Let’s look at the tools that may help save your kids from this trauma.
How to Raise Sexual Assault Awareness in Our Kids
It is never too early for parents to educate their kids about sexual assault and body safety. Here are a few ways parents can raise sexual assault awareness in kids so they would be less vulnerable.
Teach Them Why Some Body Parts Are Private Early On
Broach the subject in an inconspicuous way. You can begin by teaching them parts of the body. Name them one by one and teach them proper names for their private parts so they wouldn’t call it “my bottom”.
Make them feel comfortable using proper names of their private parts and help them know why those are private. Kids must realize their private parts aren’t meant to be seen by anyone else. Explain to them clearly why only parents can see them naked and not anyone else. Make sure they understand why a doctor can see them without clothes in your presence. Knowing is half the battle. Once that is done, tell them why setting boundaries is vital to their safety.
Talk About the Importance of Setting Boundaries
Establish a guideline for your kids by letting them know that nobody is allowed to see or touch their private parts. Parents must also ensure their kids understand that nobody is allowed to ask them to touch their private parts either. Most parents forget to tell their kids the second part, not knowing that most abusers don’t put their hands on kids straight away. Instead, they ask the kids to touch them or somebody else.
Establish A “No Secrets” Relationship with Kids
It’s a tale as old as time. Perpetrators coerce kids to keep the abuse a secret. They may convey it in a friendly manner, such as, “I love to play and have fun with you, but if you tell people that we play like this, then I won’t visit you”. Or, they may threaten your kids by saying, “If you tell anyone, I will deny it, and nobody will believe you!”
Parents must establish an open relationship with their kids to mitigate this risk. Raising sexual assault awareness would be useless if your kids cannot confide in you. Tell your kids that they must never keep such interactions a secret. No matter what anyone may tell them, threat or no threat, they must tell their parents that somebody has touched them inappropriately. Make it known that if they tell you such things, it would NEVER get them in any sort of trouble.
Teach your child how to get out of scary or uncomfortable situations
It is also imperative that your kids know nobody should take pictures of their private parts, online or otherwise. The world is full of sick pedophiles who get off on such photos. Some kids feel it would be disrespectful to say no to adults or older peers. Therefore, it is their parent’s duty to teach them ways to get out of uncomfortable situations. You must tell your kids it is alright to say no in such situations. If they don’t want to say “no”, they can excuse themselves by saying they need to use the bathroom.
To raise sexual assault awareness in kids, you can make up plenty of such scenarios with an escape route. It would ensure your kids’ safety because they’d be able to keep their wits about instead of freezing or not knowing what to do. Smart people never rely on just one precaution. Parents must always keep a backup plan to ensure their kids’ safety. That is where parental control apps, such as FamilyTime, come in.
Always Have A Back-up Plan – A Parental Control App
Knowledge is undoubtedly an effective deterrent, but establishing a powerful contingency plan should be among your top priorities. Parental control apps like FamilyTime can give you a blanket of security. You can do a lot with this app to secure your kids. For instance,
- Receive real-time location alerts,
- Create a geofence
- Assemble a watchlist of contacts to keep away dubious people
- Screen calls and messages, etc.
Nobody is naive enough to think that educating kids on such matters and raising sexual assault awareness would be enough to keep this nightmare at bay. Remember that having one conversation is not enough. Talk to your kids occasionally. Remind them discreetly what they must do to keep themselves safe.
