Essay on Body Safety Education: Essential for Schools to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse

Introduction: Importance of Body Safety Education in Schools

Body safety education is essential in schools since it equips children with all the necessary skills and knowledge that will decrease their likelihood of them being sexual abuse victims. Research indicates that 20% of girls and 80% of boys often experience sexual abuse before they are eighteen years old (Khir et al., 2019). That means that in a class of about thirty students, six girls and one boy are at risk of being sexually abused (Kim, 2018). The statistics are horrific, but body safety training and education makes a significant difference in reducing such unfortunate incidences. Many parents are often uninformed of what a body safety program entails, and most people think that trainers and teachers discuss issues of sex and sexual abuse to their children. However, that is a misconception, especially since the training programs involve young children; hence they are age-appropriate and non-threatening (Citak Tunc et al., 2018). The primary objectives of body safety education are to teach children basic points concerning their bodies, reporting to an adult when they are touched inappropriately, and telling them the actions they should take whenever they feel unsafe.

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Problem Statement: High Incidence of Sexual Abuse Among Children

After-Effects of Body Safety Programs in Middle Schools

There are several after-effects of body safety programs in middle schools. The first outcome is that students become aware of a variety of body safety skills that they can apply throughout their lives (Posch & Bieneck, 2016). One of the primary lessons that body safety programs teach is naming their body parts appropriately and accurately (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2019). The concept mostly applies to children who are beginning to talk. The training ensures that students can correctly name their body genitals like nipples, vagina, penis, and buttocks so that if they are touched inappropriately, they can clearly mention where they were touched (Walsh et al., 2018). The body training programs also ensure that all students clearly comprehend the word "private" to mean "just for you (Navaei et al., 2018)." Thus, they should let no one touch them in their private parts.

The other after effect of the body safety training programs is that children know who to talk to whenever they feel unsafe. Body safety trainers educate students in middle school that they should report to a trusted adult immediately when someone touches them inappropriately (Kenny et al., 2013). The outcome of the training is that children know that they cannot show their private parts to anyone or look at those of other people.

Body safety training programs make students know about the different types of feelings and how to deal with them. The discussions entail issues like how it feels to be sad, angry, happy, and confused, among other feelings. Thus, at the end of the training, students are usually more confident in talking about their feelings, and they know how to verbalize when they are touched inappropriately (Levenson & Grady, 2019). Students also become aware of feeling safe and unsafe. Body safety trainers teach students how to comprehend their different and diverse emotions that come with feeling safe and unsafe (Harper et al., 2019). For instance, when feeling unsafe, one can experience sweaty palms or a high pulse rate, and they should tell an adult when such warning signs occur.

Another after-effect of body safety training is that students are empowered to speak out when something feels wrong, and secret-keeping is discouraged. Students thus know that they have a right to say no when someone wants to touch them inappropriately. They also become aware that no one should force them to do things like kissing and hugging if they do not want to (Letourneau et al., 2017). Children in middle school thus grow up being aware that there is a body boundary, and no one should enter the invisible space unless they allow it.

Before Effects: Lack of Awareness of Personal Safety Rules

One of the before effects of a body safety training program is that middle school students are barely aware of the rules of personal safety. It is vital to educate middle school students on the need to keep safe, build their confidence, be empowered, and have resilience in various circumstances in life (Manheim et al., 2019). When students are taught about body safety, they become confident and know what to do when they feel violated.

Recommendations

Body safety training programs in middle schools can be improved in various ways. The most useful strategy would be involving parents in the programs so that children get comfortable with them and develop trust (Apaydin Cirik et al., 2019). According to research, parents can undermine the safety of children, for example, by giving pet names to the genitals of the children instead of calling them the right names (Gushwa et al., 2019). Parental conversations are critical so that children can trust them and report any case of sexual abuse. The topic of body safety may be intimidating to some parents, but open communication makes a significant difference in a child's life (Apaydin Cirik et al., 2019). Some children keep secrets to themselves since they are afraid of their parents. Thus, teachers and parents need to work together in promoting open communication so that children feel safe when they talk to adults about the issues that affect them (Kenny et al., 2019). Parents can also empower their children to speak out whenever they feel unsafe so that they take the right actions. All parents should ensure that body safety conversations become a normal part of the typical parental talks with their children.

Conclusion

Body safety education is essential since it equips children with all the necessary skills and knowledge that will decrease their likelihood of them being sexual abuse victims. Students are taught to correctly name their body genitals like nipples, vagina, penis, and buttocks so that if they are touched inappropriately, they can clearly mention where they were touched. The outcome of the training is that children become more confident, vigilant, and can differentiate the feelings of being safe and unsafe. The recommendation that would be made to improve the body training safety programs is to encourage parents to body awareness discussions at home during their usual parental conversations with their children.

References

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2019). Caring for Our Children, National Health and Safety Performance Standards. American Academy of Pediatrics.

Apaydin Cirik, V., Efe, E., & Velipasaoglu, S. (2019). Educating children through their parents to prevent child sexual abuse in Turkey. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care.

Citak Tunc, G., Gorak, G., Ozyazicioglu, N., Ak, B., Isil, O., & Vural, P. (2018). Preventing child sexual abuse: Body safety training for young children in Turkey. Journal of child sexual abuse, 27(4), 347-364.

Gushwa, M., Bernier, J., & Robinson, D. (2019). Advancing child sexual abuse prevention in schools: An exploration of the effectiveness of the Enough! online training program for K-12 teachers. Journal of child sexual abuse, 28(2), 144-159.

Harper, E. A., Kruger, A. C., Varjas, K., & Meyers, J. (2019). An organizational consultation framework for school-based prevention of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 29(4), 401-422.

Kenny, M. C., Bennett, K. D., Dougery, J., & Steele, F. (2013). Teaching general safety and body safety training skills to a Latino preschool male with autism. Journal of child and family studies, 22(8), 1092-1102.

Kenny, M. C., Helpingstine, C., Long, H., Perez, L., & Harrington, M. C. (2019). Increasing child serving professionals' awareness and understanding of the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Journal of child sexual abuse, 28(4), 417-434.

Khir, R. J. M., Pawanteh, M., Stephens, J., & SM, S. F. A. (2019). Puppetry as A Platform for Body Safety Awareness Campaign. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 6(10), 163-172.

Kim, Y. (2018). Body Safety Parenting Education Needs Assessment for Parents of Young Children. University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.

Letourneau, E. J., Schaeffer, C. M., Bradshaw, C. P., & Feder, K. A. (2017). Preventing the onset of child sexual abuse by targeting young adolescents with universal prevention programming. Child maltreatment, 22(2), 100-111.

Levenson, J. S., & Grady, M. D. (2019). Preventing sexual abuse: Perspectives of minor-attracted persons about seeking help. Sexual Abuse, 31(8), 991-1013.

Manheim, M., Felicetti, R., & Moloney, G. (2019). Child sexual abuse victimization prevention programs in preschool and kindergarten: implications for practice. Journal of child sexual abuse, 28(6), 745-757.

Navaei, M., Akbari-Kamrani, M., Esmaelzadeh-Saeieh, S., Farid, M., & Tehranizadeh, M. (2018). Effect of Group Counseling on Parents' Self-Efficacy, Knowledge, Attitude, and Communication Practice in Preventing Sexual Abuse of Children Aged 2-6 Years: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. International journal of community-based nursing and midwifery, 6(4), 285.

Posch, L., & Bieneck, S. (2016). Sexual abuse of children and adolescents: Prevalence and trends. Representative Studies on Victimisation; Baier, D., Pfeiffer, C., Eds, 109-138.

Walsh, K., Zwi, K., Woolfenden, S., & Shlonsky, A. (2018). School-based education programs for the prevention of child sexual abuse: A Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis. Research on social work practice, 28(1), 33-55.