Keeping Kids Safe

Our news is consistently flooded with stories about people who have been subjected to sexual abuse. Working with kids from hard places, we know that sexual abuse is not new, but more and more people are willing to come forward to share their experience.

Statistics say that 1 in 10 children (1 in 3 girls; 1 in 6 boys) experience sexual abuse before the age of 18. 90% of children who are sexually abused know the perpetrator from school, church, friends, or their own family.

One of the most significant factors that make a child vulnerable to abuse is not having an involved caregiver. Perpetrators watch children and their families to see if they can gain access and privacy with the child without gaining attention. As you can imagine, children who are experiencing neglect or have a caregiver who struggles with substance abuse often fly under the radar.

As scary as this conversation is to consider, we must be “as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). We need to be prudent in how we supervise kids and how we teach them about keeping their bodies safe when we’re not around. If you’re a Support Team Member, of course you will need to talk with your foster or adoptive family about how they would like body safety discussed and carried out.

There are opportunities to….

• Learn more! By researching different organizations such as Stop It Now and Darkness to Light, you can learn more. There are free downloads that provide prevention and intervention suggestions.
• Learn even more! By attending a Parenting Safe Children training in Denver! Greenwood Community Church will be hosting a Parenting Safe Children Training on January 26th from 12:00pm-4:00pm. Childcare is provided with RSVP. RSVP for workshop and RSVP for childcare.
• Teach children the power of consent. When we force a hug or other physical contact with a child, even if it’s just a goodbye hug or a welcome kiss for grandma, we’re expressing that children don’t have a choice to say “no” to unwanted contact. If we say, “you’re hurting my feelings by not giving me a hug”, children learn they must avoid hurting others by doing things physically they don’t want to do. We should teach kids to respectfully decline physical contact, even when the child is laughing and yelling “stop!” during tickle time.
• Make yourself known as a caring adult. If you’re in a position of dropping a child off at a sporting event, church youth group, or friend’s house, introduce yourself to the people who will be supervising. The more you display that you’re paying attention to the child’s whereabouts, the people involved in his life and his safety, the more likely someone who might perpetrate will leave him alone.
• Attend to body safety rules while the child is at your house. Rules like playing with the doors open, playing with clothes on and allowing for privacy in the bathroom will help set the tone for body safety in your house when you’re hosting a playdate.  For a list of other examples of body safety rules, click here.

As stated in 2 Timothy 1:7, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline”. We can use that power, love and self-discipline to help keep our kids as safe as we can!