Creating Sexual Safety for Children
Creating sexual safety for children goes far beyond teaching children to avoid strangers. It needs to begin early when children are just learning about their bodies and should continue through a child’s adolescence. Making sure that children understand appropriate body space is so important. Very often, children who have disabilities often have poor special boundaries that can cause future problems. Our children are so vulnerable!
However, that being said, it is important to understand that sexual abuse crosses all developmental, sociological and economic lines. According to keepyourchildrensafe.org, a child most commonly will be abused by a neighbor (adult or child), another family member, friend of the family, a playmate’s parent, or occasionally, a school teacher, caregiver, or coach. This is someone the child knows, and in most cases, knows well and probably likes.
In addition to books that explain what body parts are, books like “My body is Private” can help young children understand good personal boundaries. Understanding personal space in simple terms like “this is my personal bubble” can help a child stay safe. Teaching a child to trust their gut, and to get away from the thing that is causing their stomach to hurt, can save a child from danger. Understanding good touch, bad touch, and confusing touch is imperative. Teaching assertiveness with others is also important. There are many other ways to help our children stay safe.
The web site Keep Your Child Safe offers a free download on sexual abuse prevention. It is the most comprehensive book I have found on sexual safety for children.
Sexual Abuse Prevention Book- what Parents need to know
WorkBook about Me for Girls
WorkBook about Me for Boys
No parent wants to have to work through the grief of knowing a child has been sexualized. Children who have been adopted from the foster care system very often have been sexualized, at very early ages. It is an unfortunate truth. Many times children adopted from foster care have very uncertain histories, and this information will not be known about a child.
It’s not easy to talk to children about sexual matters, and for young children it can be even more difficult for parents to discuss. Here is an additional list of books that may help you talk with your child about personal space and sexual safety.
Who Is a Stranger and What Should I Do?
(An Albert Whitman Prairie Book)
by Linda Walvoord Girard (Author)
My Body Is Private
(Albert Whitman Prairie Books)
by Linda Walvoord Girard (Author), Rodney Pate (Illustrator)
It's My Body (Children's Safety & Abuse Prevention)
by Lory Freeman (Author)
Contemplating Your Bellybutton (My Body Science)
by Jun Nanao (Author), et al.
The Holes in Your Nose
by Genichiro Yagyu (Author)
No More Secrets
by Nina Weinstein (Author)
It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health (Robie Sex Books)
by Robie H. Harris (Author), Michael Emberley (Illustrator)
Amazing You: Getting Smart About Your Private Parts
by Gail Saltz (Author), Lynne Avril Cravath (Illustrator)
Your Body Belongs to You
by Cornelia Maude Spelman (Author), Teri Weidner (Illustrator)
Loving Touches
by Lory Freeman (Author), Carol Deach (Illustrator)
Did the Sun Shine Before You Were Born (Books for Young Readers)
by Judith Gordon (Author)
Facts About Sex for Today's Youth (Young Readers)
by Sol Gordon (Author), Vivien Cohen (Illustrator)
The Facts of Love : Living, Loving and Growing Up
by M.D. Alex Comfort (Author), Jane Comfort (Author)