All parents want to protect their children from potential harm and challenging situations, but unfortunately, they cannot be with them 24/7. As such, the only way to ensure your children remain safe and sound is by arming them with the knowledge, mindset, and resources required for self-protection. Since child abuse is becoming a pressing concern in the world, parents cannot afford to leave their kids unaware of to the concept of safe and unsafe touch. While we at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok, a well-known best school in Gurgaon, understand it is a challenging conversation to hold with your kids, it is crucial and inevitable in the current times.
You can begin by teaching the fundamentals of safe and unsafe touch using age-appropriate language. Kids must learn that safe touch will make them feel comfortable, respected, and cared for. Conversely, unsafe touch causes discomfort and often violates boundaries. We believe it is essential to make kids understand that touch should never be secretive and should not make them feel scared or confused. Every child must be aware that they have a right to refuse any touch, even from their trusted adults.
The more conversations you have with your children about safe and unsafe touch, the better they’ll be equipped to protect themselves. This blog post will guide you if you find it challenging to strike such conversations with children or don’t know what to teach.
Key Concepts to Cover
Parents in India often don’t talk about safe and unsafe touch with their children because they may find it inappropriate to hold such conversations. However, the rising crime against children demands parents to strike hard conversations for their child’s safety. In this regard, we at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok recommend covering the following topics:
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Body Ownership
You must teach your kids that their body belongs to them and no one can touch them without their consent. They must be aware of their rights to refuse touch, even if it’s from their known acquaintances or authority figures.
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Trusting Instincts
Children are blessed with strong instincts, so encourage them to trust their inner feelings. If any touch makes them feel scared, uncomfortable, confused, etc., they must immediately ask the other person not to touch them.
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Identifying Trustworthy Adults
Instances of unsafe touch can shake their inner world, making them feel disgusted, sad, angry, etc. In such cases, your kids must know a few trustworthy adults who can be reached for instant support and guidance. Make a list of reliable family members, friends, teachers, etc., and share it with your kids. Tell them to contact you and your partner first or any other person from the prepared list.
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The ‘Swimming Suit’ Rule
If your kids are young, teach them that any body part covered by a swimsuit is private and shouldn’t be touched by anyone. Only specific caregivers may touch these areas for health or hygiene reasons. For example, a doctor may touch the parts in parental presence if there is a wound in the area for proper medical treatment.
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Importance of Speaking Up
Some parents often ask their kids not to talk about such incidents openly. We at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok believe this is a wrong approach and may cause more harm than good. When teaching kids about safe and unsafe touch, parents must emphasize that unsafe touch is never the child’s fault and that they shouldn’t feel guilty. Create a safe home environment for them so they can instantly tell you if someone touched them inappropriately instead of keeping it a secret.
Teaching Strategies that Work
Some parents often get stuck in the execution process because they aren’t aware of the correct teaching strategies. If you want to educate your children about safe and unsafe touch, teach them using the following techniques:
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Role Play Scenarios
Enact potential scenarios where a person touches the children. Do it after teaching them about safe and unsafe touch so they know how to respond. It will build their confidence, and they will learn how to handle such situations if they arise in the future.
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Reinforce Body Safety Lessons
Body safety lessons are never one-time conversations, so parents must routinely reiterate them to their children. You can share newer ways of incorporating the teaching into real-life scenarios and keep the dialog open.
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Use Age-Appropriate Resources
Sometimes, parents cannot find age-appropriate vocabulary and examples to help their children learn more about safe and unsafe touch. In this case, we recommend introducing them to age-appropriate books, interactive websites, videos, etc., on body safety.
Conclusion
Teaching children about body safety has become crucial in today’s environment. To that end, equipping them with relevant information and resources is the easiest way to ensure their safety. By means of this blog post today, we at Delhi Public School Sushant Lok, a well-known CBSE school in Gurgaon, would like to recommend that every parent must make sure to teach their kids about safe and unsafe touch. While we, as a responsible educational institution, are doing our part in making the kids aware of the basics of safe and unsafe touch, we strongly believe that there are certain conversations where parents must play an active role. We would hence like to urge the parents to strike up a conversation on the topic with your kids. If it feels overwhelming, you can seek help from us or fellow parents who are on the same journey and exchange ideas and support on how to do it effortlessly.