Child safety is constantly on most parents’ minds. While it may be easy for parents to tell their children to walk and not run around a pool and to discuss other safety rules with them, it is often difficult for most parents to have a conversation with their kids about sexual safety. For this reason, we would like to provide parents with three talking tips including:
- Listen to your instinct. Parents can start the conversation with something along the lines of letting their children know that there might be situations they find themselves in where they don’t feel comfortable, and that they need to listen to their instincts in these situations. Since young children might not know what instincts are, parents can explain it as the Uh-Oh feeling or the little voice in their tummy or head that tells them something isn’t right.
- Take action. Parents can give their children the authority to tell other adults or bigger kids “No” when something doesn’t seem right. By empowering a child that he or she is the boss of his or her own body, parents can help protect their children. Parents can do this by explaining to their children what it is to be a boss and that they can speak up when they don’t want a hug from someone or to be tickled or touched in a way that gives them the Uh-Oh feeling.
- Talk to parents. Children need to know they can come to their parents about anything, especially if someone causes them to have the Uh-Oh feeling.
It is important to teach children that they can trust their feelings, to take action when something isn’t right, and to always talk with their parents about anything.
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