Stop Drop and Roll Doesn't Save Kids from Sexual Abuse
Why do we teach kids to stop, drop and roll? Why do schools have two or more fire drills each. and. every. year?
A simple answer is that our semi-annual fire drills occur because we want to keep everyone safe in case of a fire. Right?
We teach kids how to respond so that they can be safe.
Seems reasonable.
A risk exists. A fire could occur. We have a strategy to reduce or prevent the risk, and a strategy to respond. We tell everyone what the strategy is, and we practice it. Over and over again. Makes sense to me.
We want to keep kids safe from sexual abuse, right?
What’s that catchy jingle that we teach kids about sexual abuse? Oh, that’s right. We don’t have one.
How about the school’s strategy for responding to child sexual abuse? Does a strategy exist? Is it promoted? Is it practiced twice per year so that all the kids know what to do if it happens to them or a friend?
We expect organizations to be prepared to respond in case of a fire. Can’t we expect an organization to be prepared to respond in case child sexual abuse occurs?
A fire can be deadly. So can child sexual abuse.
Adverse Childhood Experiences are known to lead to physical and mental health problems including suicide.
Our ‘undefined’ child sexual abuse prevention strategy is not working. 34% of children experience sexual abuse by the time they are 18 years old.
Sometimes people talk about sexualized violence like it is extra complex. Difficult to respond to. Part of human nature.
Imagine if we treated fire safety this way? Imagine if we didn’t tell children how to react in case of a fire… and we just shrugged our shoulders and said, ‘fires are complicated’.
It’s ridiculous.
And so is 34% of children being sexually abused by age 18.
Sexual abuse prevention standards exist. Just like fire drills, smoke alarms and sprinklers.
It’s up to us as caring adults to encourage youth-serving organizations to implement Best Practices that are known to protect children.
If we can reduce house fire fatalities to 0.0009% with a fire safety strategy, then we can reduce the rate at which children are experiencing sexual abuse.
34% is outrageous.
Youth-serving organizations have a role to play in helping children and their families to learn how to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
Priority Kids works with organizations to help implement current Best Practices so that everyone is prepared to react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
Most people wouldn’t put children in a building that doesn’t meet fire codes. Let’s stop putting them in organizations that don’t have sexual abuse prevention strategies in place. Best Practices are our best chance to keep kids safe.
Most principals and teachers are not fire safety experts. They follow the standards that have been put in place for them.
You don’t have to be an expert in child sexual abuse prevention. You just have to implement the Best Practices that already exist.
Contact us today and join us in our effort to eradicate childhood sexual abuse in your organization and in our communities.
We are here to help you and your organization define your strategy so that we can keep kids safe.
Connect with our Lead Trainer to find out how Priority Kids can support your prevention efforts.
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