Witnessing a Paradigm Shift: Climate Change and Child Safety

Do you remember noticing some of the big shifts that have happened in our culture?

There have been a few times that I’ve been in a position to really notice when our culture has made a significant transformation. Even though transformations are significant, they often go unnoticed. One day you're paying with cash, and then suddenly every transaction is debit. It just happens, and we don't always notice.

I witnessed a cultural transformation while running a previous business selling cloth diapers ('Aren't you the diaper lady?'... yes, I am). In 2004, when I started that business, estimates were that 10% of caregivers used cloth diapers.

Everyone else was using single-use disposable diapers.

The hot question for parents was, “is it really better for the environment to use cloth diapers?”

In the 80’s, a disposable diaper company commissioned a ‘report’ to compare the life cycle of single use diapers with reusable diapers. It didn’t take a science degree to see that the report was incredibly biased and flawed and so were the conclusions.

BUT, a lot of people cited that study and then people cited the articles that cited the report… and pretty soon, there were a lot of established and trusted sources that appeared to be endorsing the study. In fact, most people did not realize that almost all citations led back to that one flawed study, paid for by a disposable diaper company.

It sure was tough to convince people to choose reusable diapers when most people believed that reusable diapers were just as bad for the environment and way more work.

So, for the first couple years of running my business, I spent a lot of time addressing the misconceptions and uncertainty about whether or not cloth diapers were the correct environmental choice.

It. Was. So. Much. Work.

I advocated. I spoke to parent groups. I created parent groups. I presented to doctors and public health officials.

It was a real grind.

And then something magical happened.

Someone asked me if I had seen the movie, An Inconvenient Truth. I had not.

Then someone else asked me if I had seen it. And someone else asked. And someone else asked.

And then I watched it.

And suddenly, the conversation changed.

Now, parents were asking me, what style of reusable diaper should they use? How many should they buy? What else would they need to be successful with reusable diapers?

What an incredible transformation it was for my business.

I always think back to how that movie, and its success at reaching an audience, contributed to the noticeable shift in our culture.

Suddenly it was widely accepted: the environment is at risk, and we can/must do something to help.

That was a paradigm shift. We stopped wondering if we should be more mindful of the environment, and started looking for ways to reduce our impact.

Years ago I moved away from retail and transformed my advocacy work into Priority Kids Training Programs. It’s been over a decade of advocating for protecting children from sexual abuse.

And just like with reusable diapers, the first few years (or the first decade) have been primarily consumed with trying to prove that keeping kids safe has value and can be achieved.

It. Is. A. Lot. Of. Work.

And trying to prove that children deserve to be protected is not the same as teaching people how to protect children. But, it must be done.

On Friday October 29th, we launched registration for our prevention training program being offered by Women’s Place Resource Centre later this month. When I came to work on Monday, November 1st our training was full. And now we have a wait list that is almost large enough to support a second training.

Whaaaaattt???

I don’t want to say anything to make it sound like I am less than incredibly successful (success is a good-for-business image) … but I will admit that I have NEVER filled a training that was open to the public.

Since 2011.

Those of you on this newsletter list have a pretty good understanding of how challenging it is to promote prevention training. Just because it is a good idea, does not mean that people jump to participate.

So, this is pretty big news.

Women’s Place Resource Centre has been committed to offering Stewards of Children® to the public multiple times per year for the past 3 years. Even when we had very low attendance, they stuck with it, believing that someday we would be successful at filling the seats. And the more seats we fill, the more children are protected.

Is this a sign that we are experiencing a paradigm shift?

Are we moving away from arguing about whether or not we should (or can) learn how to keep kids safe from sexual abuse?

Are we ready to talk about how to keep kids safe, and put our energy into implementing safe practices?

I think we are.

I’m not saying we’ll never have to work hard to fill another training. But, what a difference it will make when those of us who are advocating for child protection can start using our time and energy to perfect the ways that we will keep kids safe… instead of trying to convince other adults that we should keep kids safe.

This paradigm shift may just be starting, but I think we’ve made some progress that deserves to be noticed.

Things are changing. Keep up the good work out there. I know that advocating for preventing child sexual abuse can be tough, but I want to encourage you.

Change is happening.

Your efforts, and mine, will result in safer communities.

Together, we can keep kids safe from sexual abuse.

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