One of my favorite organizations is the Mama Bear Effect. It's a few years old and is basically a bunch of grown-ups dedicated to keeping children safe - particularly from sexual abuse.
Today, they posted something important on Facebook about not putting so much emphasis on teaching children to say "no" and rather expecting adults to keep children safe.
I have to say that given the reality that most abusers are known to children, it's not likely that a child simply saying "no" to an abuser is an effective child abuse prevention strategy.
Kids can be nervous asking teachers in class to use a rest room or to be excused or for help with homework. Teachers, coaches, family members have a lot of power. Children are rarely in a position where just saying no has any impact at all - even if that were possible.
The conversations about abuse, safety and well-being need to be with adults. The responsibility for protecting children is also with adults.
Of course it's important to teach children they are entitled to be safe in their own skin and bodies. But burdening children with the responsibility for not getting abused is as useless as blaming victims of rape for being raped.
Here's a link to a blog post on the Mama Bear Effect about 5 Ways We Confuse Kids About Body Safety.
They have some great free downloads anyone can use as long as their copyright is respected.
Please add any resources you find helpful for your family or families you work with.
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