The best solution to nurture our child’s safety is PREVENTION! Prevention is to keep something from happening. In this case, we are preventing child sexual abuse from happening to our child. Do not wait till it happen and then regret that we have not done this and that.
It’s important to train and educate our child about sexual abuse and how he can avoid by being alert at all time. The relationship between the parents and the child is very essential. A good parents-child relationship keeps the communication alive. The child feels comfortable sharing about anything and everything. Don’t just be your child’s mother or father, but be his best friend. Be a good listener to your child whenever he talks. A good listener does not judge or criticize of what a person said or think. Let the child finishes what he intends to say without interrupting or stopping him from talking. If you are unavailable when the child wants to talk to you, put your hand on hers and tell her gently that you are not free at the moment but will talk to her later. It is important to keep your promise and talk to your child once you are done. The child will trust you more if you keep promises. Trust allows the child to be more open up to you because he feels safe and he believes he can count on you.
Remember to tell your child that you love him and you are always there for him. Tell your child that he can always come to you if something disturb him or in trouble. Every day give your child a warm hug. All these are to reassure that he has someone to count on when he is in trouble and that his mummy or daddy loves him very much. Whenever your child talks to you about his problem or his trouble, do not over react but listen and take rational actions. Do not scold or punish your child without further investigation. You might stop your child from communicating with you in the future.
Role play and story telling are the best medium to use in educating our child about child sexual abuse. You can find similar story books in the bookshops. Tell the story and summarize it after you have ended the story. Ask related questions to recap the story. This is to allow your child to brainstorm of what he can learn from the story. If you can’t find a similar book, then invent your story. Role play the actions and behavior so that the child can have a better picture of what is it about. Use Questions and Answers method to get the child attention as well as understanding.
How can I cultivate the awareness of child sexual abuse in my young age child?
- If someone touch your body besides mummy or daddy…
- If someone put his/her hand on your body in a bus/cinema…
- Your friends play stripping games…
- A family friend want to play a secret game that involving stripping and touching…
Educate your child about his private part. Let him know that he is not allowed anyone to touch or violate his private part. You may role play to show your child what to do if someone is trying to touch or violate his private part. I met a pair of brother (4 years old) and sister (5 years old) during a holiday camp in another school. We have had a water play and every one was wet. During changing time, they are the only two children that requested and insisted to change in the toilet and by themselves. I admired that because they are taught to protect their body and themselves. They are very alert.
A child needs to do…
- Get up and go to another seat if you are in a cinema or bus.
- Get up and run to adults (mummy/daddy).
- Tell parents immediately about what happened.
- Do not play secret games with anyone.
- Do not worry and afraid to talk to daddy and mummy because they love you.
- Daddy and mummy are here to protect you from people who are trying to harm/hurt you.
- Do not hide anything from your parents.
Role play the 5 steps on how to protect the child himself from stranger at home. Please refer to my previous article on Protect Myself From Stranger!
A reader shared with me a coloring book that you can use to teach your child about safe touch, God Made Me - The Safe Touch Coloring Book. Use this beautiful coloring book to deliver the safe touch message. When the child is coloring the pages, he is able to reinforce the messages that you have delivered. Talk about the story.
Lets practice the prevention guidelines with our child so that we are able to nurture their safety!
Do you find it useful? Please subscribe to NurtureOurChild.com today via RSS Feed on the top right of the page! (What’s this?). Please stumble it!
